There's a saying that actor is only as good as the given material. Then again, sometimes good actors elevate an otherwise solid but unremarkable screenplay to new level.
This is certainly the case with "Kodachrome", a road movie / family drama set during the final days of the classic photo development system known as Kodachrome.
A genius photographer father (Ed Harris), his secretary (Elizabeth Olsen) and son (Jason Sudeikis) take a road trip in order to develop photographs at the last Kodachrome lab before it closes its doors for good, and try to settle old scores along the way.
I know, the plot summary is not terribly inviting but mere words can't convey attractive atmosphere and quality acting which are definitely the aces in the sleeve here.
Speaking about the leads, I was counting on Harris and Olsen giving good performances, I consider them among the most interesting actors of their respective generations. What took me as a surprise was how good Jason Sudeikis is at the central position.
Sure, he has a lot of experience - but witnessing a comedian offering a really memorable serious role is still relatively rare. Especially counting the instances when the movie was rather good too.
(For example, Eddie Murphy is markedly better "serious actor" than the works that he chooses to prove it in, such as "Holy Man" or "Mr. Church".)
"Kodachrome" is probably not gonna be the breakthrough that gets Sudeikis noticed as a bona fide movie star - the project is too small for that - but he (and it) deserves the recognition.
He's great as this acerbic guy always ready to sting, which is different from his usual bland good guy persona in movies. Harris's role is an interesting, chaning support for that - also stingy but with some added hidden evil.
And I just love Elizabeth Olsen in this (as usual, actually). She feels so authentic, straightforward and "in the moment" that her performance becomes a soothing, invigorating counterpart to two men's that is so desperately needed, both by the characters and the movie as a whole.
She's like the perfect embodiment of feminine energy as described in relationships guru David Deida's works: radiant, alive, enlivening, relaxing, and moving.
Without all this, there would be less to write and admire about in "Kodachrome". The story doesn't take risks creatively, preferring to stay firmly "middle of the road". Sadly, one can't expect much originality from a Netflix project. (In Estonia, only available in cinemas, btw.)
But, as mentioned above, there is something to be said about the strong acting bringing out the best of the material.
Harris, Olsen, and Sudeikis win with their committedness and earnestness, which compensates for the danger of the movie becoming too "cute" for its own good (an usual problem with mainstream approach).
Dialogue is rather sharp too, well balanced between sounding authentic and corny. This is a rather great feat in the age of "Facebook deep" where we read so many great sayings in social media that it makes us kind of jaded towards even the greatest spiritual wisdoms.
All in all, if the authors had avoided some chances to make the movie more sugary, I would given it even higher score of 8/10. Luckily, the excessive sentimentality only comes to play near the end and in relatively short bursts.
So one can still recommend "Kodachrome" as family drama with strong acting. Yes, it's mainstream, but so what?
This is certainly the case with "Kodachrome", a road movie / family drama set during the final days of the classic photo development system known as Kodachrome.
A genius photographer father (Ed Harris), his secretary (Elizabeth Olsen) and son (Jason Sudeikis) take a road trip in order to develop photographs at the last Kodachrome lab before it closes its doors for good, and try to settle old scores along the way.
I know, the plot summary is not terribly inviting but mere words can't convey attractive atmosphere and quality acting which are definitely the aces in the sleeve here.
Speaking about the leads, I was counting on Harris and Olsen giving good performances, I consider them among the most interesting actors of their respective generations. What took me as a surprise was how good Jason Sudeikis is at the central position.
Sure, he has a lot of experience - but witnessing a comedian offering a really memorable serious role is still relatively rare. Especially counting the instances when the movie was rather good too.
(For example, Eddie Murphy is markedly better "serious actor" than the works that he chooses to prove it in, such as "Holy Man" or "Mr. Church".)
"Kodachrome" is probably not gonna be the breakthrough that gets Sudeikis noticed as a bona fide movie star - the project is too small for that - but he (and it) deserves the recognition.
He's great as this acerbic guy always ready to sting, which is different from his usual bland good guy persona in movies. Harris's role is an interesting, chaning support for that - also stingy but with some added hidden evil.
And I just love Elizabeth Olsen in this (as usual, actually). She feels so authentic, straightforward and "in the moment" that her performance becomes a soothing, invigorating counterpart to two men's that is so desperately needed, both by the characters and the movie as a whole.
She's like the perfect embodiment of feminine energy as described in relationships guru David Deida's works: radiant, alive, enlivening, relaxing, and moving.
Without all this, there would be less to write and admire about in "Kodachrome". The story doesn't take risks creatively, preferring to stay firmly "middle of the road". Sadly, one can't expect much originality from a Netflix project. (In Estonia, only available in cinemas, btw.)
But, as mentioned above, there is something to be said about the strong acting bringing out the best of the material.
Harris, Olsen, and Sudeikis win with their committedness and earnestness, which compensates for the danger of the movie becoming too "cute" for its own good (an usual problem with mainstream approach).
Dialogue is rather sharp too, well balanced between sounding authentic and corny. This is a rather great feat in the age of "Facebook deep" where we read so many great sayings in social media that it makes us kind of jaded towards even the greatest spiritual wisdoms.
All in all, if the authors had avoided some chances to make the movie more sugary, I would given it even higher score of 8/10. Luckily, the excessive sentimentality only comes to play near the end and in relatively short bursts.
So one can still recommend "Kodachrome" as family drama with strong acting. Yes, it's mainstream, but so what?