Post by CrepedCrusader on Mar 14, 2024 16:51:16 GMT
Premise: In the 1980s, reclusive gym manager Lou (Kristen Stewart) falls hard for Jackie (Katy O'Brian), an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Las Vegas in pursuit of her dream. But their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou's crime family
I was intrigued by the trailer, and furthermore by the cast. (Funniest thing about my anticipation: I admit I might have let myself half-believe a rumor from the trailer that the movie was secretly a werewolf movie because of shots where it looks sort of like Katy O'Brian is transforming when she flexes her back muscles.) I also liked writer-director Rose Glass's last film, St. Maud. So, I went into the movie with high hopes, and for the first half, I liked it. There was an underlying tension -- you know things are going to go wrong, but you just don't know how. And when things finally start to go really wrong, things get pretty brutal. Unfortunately, it's when things start to go wrong in the second half of the movie that, in my opinion, the movie sort of takes a dive. While one character is desperately tying to fix things, another devolves into a fever dream of paranoia and confusion that was represented in away that just didn't work for me. The movie seemed to be setting up a twist that turned out not to be the case (more in the spoiler section below), and then at the very the climax of the film, things turn a WTF?! turn that just had me confused. There was some good humor throughout despite the films' dark subject matter, and the movie even ends on a bit of a joke, which did make me chuckle. Overall, I thought the movie had great potential, but it mostly squandered it. My rating: 5.5/10
Oh, this may be a nitpick, but I can't forgive the movie for giving Ed Harris the same haircut as Bozo's sidekick:
SPOILER SECTION:
I was intrigued by the trailer, and furthermore by the cast. (Funniest thing about my anticipation: I admit I might have let myself half-believe a rumor from the trailer that the movie was secretly a werewolf movie because of shots where it looks sort of like Katy O'Brian is transforming when she flexes her back muscles.) I also liked writer-director Rose Glass's last film, St. Maud. So, I went into the movie with high hopes, and for the first half, I liked it. There was an underlying tension -- you know things are going to go wrong, but you just don't know how. And when things finally start to go really wrong, things get pretty brutal. Unfortunately, it's when things start to go wrong in the second half of the movie that, in my opinion, the movie sort of takes a dive. While one character is desperately tying to fix things, another devolves into a fever dream of paranoia and confusion that was represented in away that just didn't work for me. The movie seemed to be setting up a twist that turned out not to be the case (more in the spoiler section below), and then at the very the climax of the film, things turn a WTF?! turn that just had me confused. There was some good humor throughout despite the films' dark subject matter, and the movie even ends on a bit of a joke, which did make me chuckle. Overall, I thought the movie had great potential, but it mostly squandered it. My rating: 5.5/10
Oh, this may be a nitpick, but I can't forgive the movie for giving Ed Harris the same haircut as Bozo's sidekick:
SPOILER SECTION:
The "twist" I referred to was after the FBI comes to talk with Lou while she has a dead body in her apartment. Right after that, she calls her father and starts trying to get him to admit to murders on the phone. I was convinced they were going to reveal that Lou had come clean to the FBI an was now entrapping her father on the phone while the FBI was recording the call.
The WTF?! moment I referred to was the moment when Jackie actually does transform, not into a werewolf, but into the fuckin' 50 Ft. Woman, and now, as a giant, subdues Ed Harris before he can kill his daughter.
The WTF?! moment I referred to was the moment when Jackie actually does transform, not into a werewolf, but into the fuckin' 50 Ft. Woman, and now, as a giant, subdues Ed Harris before he can kill his daughter.