Okay, I'm not gonna say anything at all like 'This was the worst movie ever', because it certainly is not.
BUT... 'Painful', yes. Okay, sure this is a very familiar idea, fine; that doesn't bother me at all. There are a LOT of reworked ideas that we see done over and over all the time, and for me anyway as long as the film is done well they don't ALL have to be totally original. Just about ANY story based however loosely on POE is great with me (same thing with Philip K. Dick)
BUT... That's not it. First off, I am REALLY surprised that this is a Scott Free production. I'm amazed that the Scott Brothers had anything at all to do with this director, period. And that, in my lowly and wretched opinion, is precisely what is wrong with this film. The director. I mean, couldn't ol' Ridley and Tony at least have found a better director? Geez...
One word: Amateurish.
I know that word is probably overworked here, but that truly is what I believe killed this film. Not overtly HORRIBLE, no... But, enough little things that added up so that by about 30 minutes I was so irritated, that I had indeed had quite enough.
Here are just a few things, and no, they in themselves are not really awful, but to me anyway they're so obvious that it REALLY takes you right out of the film. First off, and I KNOW many are gonna think this is really silly, but ANY director that for some bizarre unknown reason HAS to have the characters giving their dialog while they are chewing their food 4 FRIGG'N TIMES in the first 20 minutes is an amateur. I know, I know, it may seem petty, but it's like the director somehow thinks that this makes the movie more 'Real to Life' somehow as if any of us are interested in seeing about a third of the dialog given with their mouth's full (like 'Ooh, see this is what REAL people do' - uh huh... apparently they must do it frigg'n CONSTANTLY by how much it is portrayed here.
Second, and much more annoying and a sure sign to me anyway that the director is an amateur (BTW, when I use 'amateur', I mean in this context an UNTALENTED amateur - many first time 'amateur' directors CAN be absolutely brilliant!) is when the sound design is SO horribly UNnatural that every little rustle of paper and every little movement is amplified and raised to ridiculously artificial levels. And God forbid anyone should poor a drink clear across the room without the ear shattering sound of the liquid hitting the glass (Oh yeah, VERY realistic there...) Like I said, Amateur Time... (Now, I admit that these two areas regarding the 'sound' particularly annoy me - perhaps they wouldn't bother someone else as much)
Next, the script itself is really trying. And I don't mean 'Trying' as in really making an attempt either. First, the little girl (who is very cute and lovely, BTW) spouts these completely unrealistic lines that a six year old would never likely say. And DON'T get me started on the 'romantic' interplay between the two leads; can you say 'AWKWARD'...?
So, it honestly is a shame that this film wasn't placed in MUCH better hands; even with the moderately painful dialog, at least with a good director, it could have been possible to improve the quality and bring out better performances. Then, perhaps this movie might have had a chance to be quite good. But no...
Sadly, in a word...
Painful...
BUT... 'Painful', yes. Okay, sure this is a very familiar idea, fine; that doesn't bother me at all. There are a LOT of reworked ideas that we see done over and over all the time, and for me anyway as long as the film is done well they don't ALL have to be totally original. Just about ANY story based however loosely on POE is great with me (same thing with Philip K. Dick)
BUT... That's not it. First off, I am REALLY surprised that this is a Scott Free production. I'm amazed that the Scott Brothers had anything at all to do with this director, period. And that, in my lowly and wretched opinion, is precisely what is wrong with this film. The director. I mean, couldn't ol' Ridley and Tony at least have found a better director? Geez...
One word: Amateurish.
I know that word is probably overworked here, but that truly is what I believe killed this film. Not overtly HORRIBLE, no... But, enough little things that added up so that by about 30 minutes I was so irritated, that I had indeed had quite enough.
Here are just a few things, and no, they in themselves are not really awful, but to me anyway they're so obvious that it REALLY takes you right out of the film. First off, and I KNOW many are gonna think this is really silly, but ANY director that for some bizarre unknown reason HAS to have the characters giving their dialog while they are chewing their food 4 FRIGG'N TIMES in the first 20 minutes is an amateur. I know, I know, it may seem petty, but it's like the director somehow thinks that this makes the movie more 'Real to Life' somehow as if any of us are interested in seeing about a third of the dialog given with their mouth's full (like 'Ooh, see this is what REAL people do' - uh huh... apparently they must do it frigg'n CONSTANTLY by how much it is portrayed here.
Second, and much more annoying and a sure sign to me anyway that the director is an amateur (BTW, when I use 'amateur', I mean in this context an UNTALENTED amateur - many first time 'amateur' directors CAN be absolutely brilliant!) is when the sound design is SO horribly UNnatural that every little rustle of paper and every little movement is amplified and raised to ridiculously artificial levels. And God forbid anyone should poor a drink clear across the room without the ear shattering sound of the liquid hitting the glass (Oh yeah, VERY realistic there...) Like I said, Amateur Time... (Now, I admit that these two areas regarding the 'sound' particularly annoy me - perhaps they wouldn't bother someone else as much)
Next, the script itself is really trying. And I don't mean 'Trying' as in really making an attempt either. First, the little girl (who is very cute and lovely, BTW) spouts these completely unrealistic lines that a six year old would never likely say. And DON'T get me started on the 'romantic' interplay between the two leads; can you say 'AWKWARD'...?
So, it honestly is a shame that this film wasn't placed in MUCH better hands; even with the moderately painful dialog, at least with a good director, it could have been possible to improve the quality and bring out better performances. Then, perhaps this movie might have had a chance to be quite good. But no...
Sadly, in a word...
Painful...