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MitchellMan
Reviews
21 Grams (2003)
Bleak and Bleaker
Wow,
you want to get low, bummed out. Then check out this flick.
It is well made, but not enjoyable.
Did you like the way Memento was structured? I felt like Grams does the same disjointed storytelling to much more confusing effect.
Multiple storylines, in multiple time frames, never sure what came first or which way is up. I found it grew frustrating the longer it went on. By the time all was revealed, I had a headache.
That the story line is so bleak and depressing surely doesn't help matters.
But if you are sitting around one evening and you are just too happy, then pop this sucker into the DVD player and prepare to go down it's miserable trail.
MitchellMan
Lonely Place (2004)
A New Noir
I got the chance to see this film at a Film Noir festival held at the American Cinemateque in Hollywood, and I was very pleased.
This picture harkens back to a different era. One when suspense and drama were handled deftly by masters like Alfred Hitchcock.
A modern film set in the late 1940's, Tess Harper plays the farmer's wife caught in a rural dilemma. Her performance as the mouse caught in a box with two cats is amazing. (Where has she been lately?) Kurtwood Smith is the old tired farmer, and Tomas Arana is the mysterious stranger who just stopped by for a visit.
The tension here gets thick, and you don't know who to root for...until the end.
This film will probably go the festival route, so if you see it on your program, and you like well paced suspensfull noir's, give it a look and you won't be disappointed. (8/10)
MitchellMan