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r_oshea
Reviews
The Station Agent (2003)
As exciting as train watching
The makers of this movie have, wittingly or unwittingly, at last two things going for them: First, making a dwarf as the hero of the movie immediately engenders our sympathy and leaves us in no doubt as to whom to identify with. Second, making a dwarf as the hero of the movie immediately creates an atmosphere of humour, possibly from our desire to make fun of someone so different from ourselves.
Fin, the hero, seems to come from the Charles Bronson school of acting. His
expressionlessness allows us to project our feelings of sympathy and fun onto him. The other characters give good performances. The music is interesting and entertaining. The scenery and photography are beautiful. I did enjoy the movie, and found parts of it thought- provoking.
But in long stretches of the movie, just not enough happens. Perhaps this aspect of the movie is meant to be a mataphor for train watching: long periods of inactivity followed by brief bursts of activity. I don't do train watching. I gave this movie a 6 out of 10, the positives outweighing the irritation from boredom.
Casomai (2002)
I never met a priest like that
Casomai opens with a young couple driving to a chapel somewhere in the hills to arrange to be married there. They meet the priest, who steals every scene he is in, and the ceremony is arranged. At the ceremony, the priest draws out of the couple and their friends and families their stories, told in flashbacks and flashforwards. We see the course of the couple's relationship through newly-married times, the birth of their first child, and onwards. Will the marriage survive the pressures of friends and family, of work, of child-care, of financial worries, and of cooling passion?
The movie starts promisingly, with the priest being the most interesting character. But once the movie concentrates on the couple, I found my interest and sympathy waning as their relationship became more unhappy. The movie might appeal if you delight in sharing other people's problems, but after about an hour I found myself wondering how much more I had to endure. I found the ending quite weak. I gave the movie 5 out of 10--neutral--the clever parts offsetting the flat parts.
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
MTV does a musical
The average time between cuts must be about one second. All those relentless changes of camera angle made the movie exhausting to watch. After 20 minutes I cared more about sleeping then what happened to the characters. I slept for the rest of the movie.