Firstly, a confession. I watched the film, read the book and watched the film again. In this review I am going to try and act impartially towards at as an adaptation.
The first fifteen minutes are determined to hook you in; flashy camera work, chronological restructuring and in your face character introductions. We have Lauren, Paul and Sean; where do we go from there, (well backwards in fact), but not very far at all. The rest of the film lacks structure and therefore plays out like a sketch show with scenes lifted from the source material.
The film lacks plot, character arcs or goals. The film is counter-cinema masquerading as mainstream. What the film does have is characters, and the film is its own characters; good looking, clever, subverting and ultimately selfish, it is more concerned with pleasing itself than pleasing the audience.
I enjoyed the film but had a strange suspicion there was something deeper lurking beneath.
The first fifteen minutes are determined to hook you in; flashy camera work, chronological restructuring and in your face character introductions. We have Lauren, Paul and Sean; where do we go from there, (well backwards in fact), but not very far at all. The rest of the film lacks structure and therefore plays out like a sketch show with scenes lifted from the source material.
The film lacks plot, character arcs or goals. The film is counter-cinema masquerading as mainstream. What the film does have is characters, and the film is its own characters; good looking, clever, subverting and ultimately selfish, it is more concerned with pleasing itself than pleasing the audience.
I enjoyed the film but had a strange suspicion there was something deeper lurking beneath.