The good acting comes from Aaron Johnson (most recently in Albert Nobbs) as Ben the botanist, Benicio del Toro (won an Oscar and more for supporting actor in Traffic (2000), nominated for 21 Grams (2003), won Independent Spirit Awards for The Usual Suspects (1995), Basquiat (1996), and 21 Grams, and was in the wonderful Fearless (1993), Swimming with Sharks (1994), Snatch. (2000), and had an uncredited cameo as "Celebrity" in Somewhere) as a very bad yet attractive guy, Salma Hayek (first came to my attention in the quirky Dogma (1999), then was terrific in Timecode (2000) which I kept meaning to watch again later because the screen is split into four parts with different parts of the story going on simultaneously and my brain couldn't handle it even though I wanted it to (whew!), the lead in Frida (2002) directed by Julie Taymor, and recurring roles in Ugly Betty and 30 Rock) equally bad and even more attractive, and John Travolta (I loved Pulp Fiction (1994), even though it had its sadistic side as well, and Saturday Night Fever (1977), both of which earned him Oscar nominations, loved Urban Cowboy (1980), Blow Out (1981), Get Shorty (1995), Phenomenon (1996), Michael (1996), Primary Colors (1998), and liked Grease (1978) and Hairspray (2007)) as a harried detective. However, Blake Lively and her character O (short for Ophelia? Olivia? I can't remember) left me completely cold, even though I liked her in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee and The Town, and I felt the same way about the last third of the romantic triangle between Johnson and Lively, Taylor Kitsch (I never saw Friday Night Lights, John Tucker Must Die (2006), nor John Carter earlier this year), who plays the ex-Navy Seal inexplicably named Chon.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Savages (2012)
Often Jack and I enjoy movies for which we're not in the target demographic of Gen X males. This isn't one of them. Despite the mostly good acting, beautiful beach locations, and high production values, we found the story so sadistic and ugly that I fought the urge to walk out several times when we saw it three weeks ago. And violence in and of itself doesn't usually put us off. The story is about two guys, childhood friends, one a hippie botanist and the other an ex-Navy Seal, who share a girl, grow the best marijuana anyone has ever used, and then get mixed up with cruel Mexican drug lords. Based on the 2010 novel by crime/mystery writer Don Winslow, director Oliver Stone apparently optioned it before it was published and worked on the screenplay with Winslow and Winslow's regular screenwriting partner Shane Salerno.
The good acting comes from Aaron Johnson (most recently in Albert Nobbs) as Ben the botanist, Benicio del Toro (won an Oscar and more for supporting actor in Traffic (2000), nominated for 21 Grams (2003), won Independent Spirit Awards for The Usual Suspects (1995), Basquiat (1996), and 21 Grams, and was in the wonderful Fearless (1993), Swimming with Sharks (1994), Snatch. (2000), and had an uncredited cameo as "Celebrity" in Somewhere) as a very bad yet attractive guy, Salma Hayek (first came to my attention in the quirky Dogma (1999), then was terrific in Timecode (2000) which I kept meaning to watch again later because the screen is split into four parts with different parts of the story going on simultaneously and my brain couldn't handle it even though I wanted it to (whew!), the lead in Frida (2002) directed by Julie Taymor, and recurring roles in Ugly Betty and 30 Rock) equally bad and even more attractive, and John Travolta (I loved Pulp Fiction (1994), even though it had its sadistic side as well, and Saturday Night Fever (1977), both of which earned him Oscar nominations, loved Urban Cowboy (1980), Blow Out (1981), Get Shorty (1995), Phenomenon (1996), Michael (1996), Primary Colors (1998), and liked Grease (1978) and Hairspray (2007)) as a harried detective. However, Blake Lively and her character O (short for Ophelia? Olivia? I can't remember) left me completely cold, even though I liked her in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee and The Town, and I felt the same way about the last third of the romantic triangle between Johnson and Lively, Taylor Kitsch (I never saw Friday Night Lights, John Tucker Must Die (2006), nor John Carter earlier this year), who plays the ex-Navy Seal inexplicably named Chon.
Director/co-writer Oliver Stone (covered briefly in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps) still wants to be Quentin Tarantino, as he did when he made Natural Born Killers (1994), which was way, way better than this. It's not a total waste of time but we can't recommend it.
The good acting comes from Aaron Johnson (most recently in Albert Nobbs) as Ben the botanist, Benicio del Toro (won an Oscar and more for supporting actor in Traffic (2000), nominated for 21 Grams (2003), won Independent Spirit Awards for The Usual Suspects (1995), Basquiat (1996), and 21 Grams, and was in the wonderful Fearless (1993), Swimming with Sharks (1994), Snatch. (2000), and had an uncredited cameo as "Celebrity" in Somewhere) as a very bad yet attractive guy, Salma Hayek (first came to my attention in the quirky Dogma (1999), then was terrific in Timecode (2000) which I kept meaning to watch again later because the screen is split into four parts with different parts of the story going on simultaneously and my brain couldn't handle it even though I wanted it to (whew!), the lead in Frida (2002) directed by Julie Taymor, and recurring roles in Ugly Betty and 30 Rock) equally bad and even more attractive, and John Travolta (I loved Pulp Fiction (1994), even though it had its sadistic side as well, and Saturday Night Fever (1977), both of which earned him Oscar nominations, loved Urban Cowboy (1980), Blow Out (1981), Get Shorty (1995), Phenomenon (1996), Michael (1996), Primary Colors (1998), and liked Grease (1978) and Hairspray (2007)) as a harried detective. However, Blake Lively and her character O (short for Ophelia? Olivia? I can't remember) left me completely cold, even though I liked her in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee and The Town, and I felt the same way about the last third of the romantic triangle between Johnson and Lively, Taylor Kitsch (I never saw Friday Night Lights, John Tucker Must Die (2006), nor John Carter earlier this year), who plays the ex-Navy Seal inexplicably named Chon.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment