Mild Spoilers Ahead-- A flea circus is an attraction used to draw in tourists, the lure being that they will see a tiny circus with fleas performing as if trained. Generally the equipment in these tiny circuses is designed to move on its own or with help from the purveyor, giving the illusion to the audience that they are seeing something happen that isn't there (read: the terrific quote from Jurassic Park).
This movie is a modern flea circus. It promises fleas and instead is literally one man pretending to talk on the phone, pretending he doesn't notice the camera, pretending to itch himself and rave hysterically at pretend fleas... you get the idea. I realize that the conceit of this film is less about the actual fleas themselves and instead supposed to be some kind of psychological piece about a man dealing with some kind of stress? But it fails to deliver in either regard, giving us no story in a "psychological film," no insects in a movie called fleas which is supposed to be about an entomologist working, and so many moments where I had to check how much was left in this movie it ended up feeling like it was two hours long rather than the one hour mark it crawls to.
I'm afraid that for me this movie has basically no entertainment value. It was painful to sit through and if I didn't feel compelled to finish a movie once I've started it I would have turned it off.
This movie is a modern flea circus. It promises fleas and instead is literally one man pretending to talk on the phone, pretending he doesn't notice the camera, pretending to itch himself and rave hysterically at pretend fleas... you get the idea. I realize that the conceit of this film is less about the actual fleas themselves and instead supposed to be some kind of psychological piece about a man dealing with some kind of stress? But it fails to deliver in either regard, giving us no story in a "psychological film," no insects in a movie called fleas which is supposed to be about an entomologist working, and so many moments where I had to check how much was left in this movie it ended up feeling like it was two hours long rather than the one hour mark it crawls to.
I'm afraid that for me this movie has basically no entertainment value. It was painful to sit through and if I didn't feel compelled to finish a movie once I've started it I would have turned it off.