I am pretty tolerant of movies, and anything that is even mildly entertaining is usually okay in my book, but I would really love to get the money back that I paid for the BD, and the 2+ hours I wasted on this stinker. i usually avoid making negative posts, but I am hoping to save others from the time and money wasted. It is too long, the dialogue is unintentionally laughable, and there are scenes that have absolutely no point. The writer really likes to imagine that he has some profound philosophical statements to make, but they make no senses and just sounds like pompous BS from someone who just likes to hear themselves talk. There are also scenes of somewhat kinky intimacy that just have no reason to be in the film. I am no prude, but I felt like a voyeur in the room and it made me uncomfortable, simply because the scene had no purpose and seemed gratuitous. How did others feel about this?
It has a 34% rating on rotten tomatoes.com, so it seems like lots of folks agree with you. I haven't seen it.
skip the first 15 minutes the husband and wife love scene is a complete waste of time , in fact if you skip all the scenes with Penelope Cruz except her penultimate scene you would have a better movie nothing against Penelope except her character is boring .
I was under the impression this is widely considered a disaster. It shows that Cormac McCarthy doesn't understand cinema...and, unfortunately, we already knew that Ridley Scott, brilliant visual stylist that he is, is totally at the mercy of his screenplays. He just can't tell good writing from bad, and is attracted to projects because of the ideas/concepts they contain rather than their substance or quality. Sad thing to say, because he's made some of my favorite movies. Spielberg has some of the same problems btw (although his instincts are better than Scott's).
I haven't seen it yet, but what I do hate is the fact that, as far as I know, only the Blu-ray contains the extended director's cut... we DVD buyers are stuck with the shorter theatrical version. Booo-urns!!
It's pretty bad. The windshield scene is highly memorable, for all the right and wrong reasons. "Truth has no temperature."
Wait! Are there steamy sex scenes involving Penelope Cruz in this?? Because that alone would make it watchable in my mind...
The trailer didn't make me want to run out and see the movie, then all the bad reviews lowered my interest even more. Possibly one day when it shows up on Netflix or Amazon Prime I'll give it a shot. I agree with the previous statement that Scott's films seem to live and die on the strength of the screenplay.
I've not run my review yet, but it includes a comment that the movie is such a disaster that it makes a sex scene between Michael Fassbender and Penelope Cruz BORING. Nothing remotely sexy/steamy in this movie. I totally agree with the comments about the awful dialogue - McCarthy's prose might work in novels but NOT in movies, at least not as depicted here. The entire movie's packed with long, boring soliloquies about... nothing, as far as I can tell. Lots of stilted, artficial, pseudo-intellectual monologues that go nowhere. Scott does nothing to make it interesting, and the actors all look like they're trying so hard not to laugh at the awful dialogue that they have no room to actually act. Terrible movie!
I didn't think it was great, but it certainly was dark, as just about everything of McCarthy's is that I've read. (Blood Meridian is probably one of the most disturbing books I've ever read and that has never been made into a film despite some attempts at doing so). The notion that actions have consequences is driven home with a stake into the gut in this picture.I did think Bardem's performance was almost amateurish- I wondered whether he was deliberately acting like a space cadet; I'm not a huge Cameron Diaz fan but she was totally ruthless; nice bit of irony on the buying end in Chicago, no? And, fwiw, that was a pretty nice Brough motorcycle* mounted indoors in oue of the scenes as backdrop- kind of interesting locations/sets. Though it was not without flaws, overall I found the film disturbing and not a waste of my time. I also remember my reaction the first time I saw Bladerunner on initial theatrical release- no, I'm not comparing this film to that one on the merits- but I really found the 'noir' voice-over to be hokey. Obviously, later viewings, and different 'cuts', changed my view of that film. _____________________________________________ *Highly collectible vintage bike- same one that T.E.Lawrence rode to his death.
Thanks! You got all the highlights already, though! Oh, I'll add this: what's with all the "Britishisms" used by characters? "Bloody" and "chaps" used in the Brit way, "knickers", and some others I can't recall. Most of the movie takes place in Mexico and Texas - why do all the characters talk like they're from England???
I finally got round to seeing this on DVD. What a god-awful, over-complicated, pessimistic, boring, vile film it is. A shame for Fassbinder who put in some very powerful performances.
If you saw it on DVD, then you've only seen the theatrical version.... there's a longer cut which is (ridiculously) only available on BR.
I vote for the English (and acting) -challenged combo of Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz turning McCarthy's dialogue into silliness.