Imogen Poots, is always a pleasure to watch, her screen presence is so clear and grounded and authentic but here as Gemma she isn't given a lot to do, she's bogged down by the deliberate existential malaise the movie creates, which I guess is effective because that is clearly the intent but it doesn't make for a particularly interesting or engaging story. Jesse Eisenberg is cast against type here as Tom beginning as a working-class goof who turns into a brooding, distant, shell. With a character that is neither neurotic/obsessed nor hyper verbal his best assets are hamstrung and what's left is a solid meh of a performance. The two have great chemistry, see the surprisingly electric The Art Of Self Defense currently streaming on Hulu, but it goes mostly untapped as they mostly sit statically gradually being overcome with despair.
An interesting concept and some intriguing production design don't make up for the dearth of material here. This would have made a great short but there is simply not enough substance to justify feature length, what we're left with is a boring slog towards an inevitable(and predictable) depressing ending, it creates an effective and specific mood but has neither the narrative robustness nor the character dimension to actualize as a coherent film.
Currently streaming on Amazon.
Don't See It.
Appreciate your blog ppost
ReplyDelete