It's amazing how the little things can really drag a movie down sometimes. The Last Duel really suffered that with me, which is a shame because it's a film about a really important subject with some great talent and wonderful acting. What hurts it for me though is the pacing, the Affleck and the charisma.
The film is broken into three parts, exploring the perspectives from each side of the central event. This is a valuable perspective to have and I think this is a fascinating way to go about it but it felt so chunky to me, lingering and jumping, dragging and skipping at times. There was no sense of time for me, no sense of this being a prolonged thing save the couple mentions of "I'll be gone a couple months." I think this is just the risk taken when doing this sort of three part, perspective piece though. They have to jump around and move quickly through some stuff and linger on others based on each character, I just found it distracting.
Almost as distracting as Affleck. Seriously, what's going on with this guy? Sometimes he's great and then sometimes he shows up as the OG Dark Age Juggalo that feels completely out of place in this entire experience. He is in a whole other movie and whoever's in charge failed to tell him this is a bleak period piece and not a remake of Caligula. This is really impressive considering he was one of the people in charge, which makes it feel a bit more like he just wanted to do something and he's the boss so who's going to stop him?
Speaking of bleak, that's all this movie is. From the color filter, to the actions on the screen, the characters we're presented with, everything is a downer. Incidentally, that makes Affleck's character seem even more out of place but I digress. Comer is doing something and absolutely gets you to feel for her, but only because of how utterly miserable and tragic her life is. Driver is a terrible man with illusions of being a romantic. Damon is that guy that would go to some kids birthday party and remind everyone that children are dying all over the world because he didn't get a corner slice and everyone needs to be miserable for not worshiping him.
Look, this is the tragic tale of a woman who is sexually assaulted in a world where she has no rights and must rely on the men around her to do what's right, which seems increasingly unlikely. The parallels it makes to modern times are undeniably poignant and the visceral way in which it portrays the act is hard to watch and it should be. It's a horrific thing and it should seem like it. I could just go for one shred of light piercing through the grime of this world, a shred of something other than despair and damnation. Maybe one moment where it seems like Damon's character actually gives a damn about Comer's or a sweet moment between her and... Anyone! Anyone at all. When it's bleak followed by despair, followed by depression, followed by hopelessness for two and a half hours, it's hard to walk away from it and feel good about the experience. From a cursory glance though, I'm in the minority on this and to that end I do think this is worth checking out but with the warning that this is very dark and covers some very difficult, potentially triggering issues and it doesn't shy away from them.
The film is broken into three parts, exploring the perspectives from each side of the central event. This is a valuable perspective to have and I think this is a fascinating way to go about it but it felt so chunky to me, lingering and jumping, dragging and skipping at times. There was no sense of time for me, no sense of this being a prolonged thing save the couple mentions of "I'll be gone a couple months." I think this is just the risk taken when doing this sort of three part, perspective piece though. They have to jump around and move quickly through some stuff and linger on others based on each character, I just found it distracting.
Almost as distracting as Affleck. Seriously, what's going on with this guy? Sometimes he's great and then sometimes he shows up as the OG Dark Age Juggalo that feels completely out of place in this entire experience. He is in a whole other movie and whoever's in charge failed to tell him this is a bleak period piece and not a remake of Caligula. This is really impressive considering he was one of the people in charge, which makes it feel a bit more like he just wanted to do something and he's the boss so who's going to stop him?
Speaking of bleak, that's all this movie is. From the color filter, to the actions on the screen, the characters we're presented with, everything is a downer. Incidentally, that makes Affleck's character seem even more out of place but I digress. Comer is doing something and absolutely gets you to feel for her, but only because of how utterly miserable and tragic her life is. Driver is a terrible man with illusions of being a romantic. Damon is that guy that would go to some kids birthday party and remind everyone that children are dying all over the world because he didn't get a corner slice and everyone needs to be miserable for not worshiping him.
Look, this is the tragic tale of a woman who is sexually assaulted in a world where she has no rights and must rely on the men around her to do what's right, which seems increasingly unlikely. The parallels it makes to modern times are undeniably poignant and the visceral way in which it portrays the act is hard to watch and it should be. It's a horrific thing and it should seem like it. I could just go for one shred of light piercing through the grime of this world, a shred of something other than despair and damnation. Maybe one moment where it seems like Damon's character actually gives a damn about Comer's or a sweet moment between her and... Anyone! Anyone at all. When it's bleak followed by despair, followed by depression, followed by hopelessness for two and a half hours, it's hard to walk away from it and feel good about the experience. From a cursory glance though, I'm in the minority on this and to that end I do think this is worth checking out but with the warning that this is very dark and covers some very difficult, potentially triggering issues and it doesn't shy away from them.