I'm a movie nerd and that's a fact. I get way too involved in awards season, and every year I tear through the Sundance film reviews and make a list of the movies I have to see once they come out. I made a pretty decent dent in last year's list, but this year was amazing.
As a member of my school's honors program I get to do a lot of fun things. One of those opportunities was the chance to attend Sundance last week. I ended up attending four films, and had an incredibly exhausting week that changed me forever.
My first film was a dramedy called Other People and it was written and directed by Chris Kelly, who is both funny and adorable. It's a personal story about his mother's last year of life and it was honestly life changing. It was too real, too honest, and so heartbreaking. There was a trueness to the grief, as scenes were both so sad and hilarious at the same time. The scene that stuck out most to me was when the main character, David (Jesse Plemmons, whose performance is so heartbreaking) had just thrown up on a date and had to run to the grocery store to pick up laxative for his dying mother (Molly Shannon, who shines in one of her best roles ever). He cannot find them anywhere and gets increasingly upset and eventually collapses on the ground hugging a bundle of toilet paper weeping "Where are the fucking laxatives?" only to find out they were right in front of him the whole time. My heart broke but I was laughing because I recognized that sort of anguish. I have felt it and I was finally seeing someone else feel it too. Hands down, this was my favorite film I saw at Sundance this year, and it might even be one of my all time favorites.
The next night I saw Goat; a gritty drama about hazing that starred Nick Jonas (my mortal enemy) and Ben Schnetzer. Both of their performances were surprisingly poignant with Jonas as the protective older brother and Schnetzer as the broken boy determined to prove he isn't a "pussy" after being jumped by a couple of local hicks. The movie follow's Schnetzer's character Brad as he rushes his older brother Brett's fraternity and is introduced to the horrific torture culture that is the Greek system. I liked the movie okay, but I struggled because it was heavy on shock value and low on plot. I suppose that was the point though. It was a story about two brothers, but it was mostly about masculinity and the dark groupthink that fraternities create. For me, the most moving scene was when Nick Jonas' Brett gives a speech to the frat about how "None of this even matters!" It was a surprisingly subtle and well done performance from Jonas, who I've devoted the last two years of my life despising. I was pleasantly surprised.
A few days later, I saw The Lobster. It was a surreal dystopian comedy about a man (Colin Farrell) who must enter a hotel and find an appropriate mate in 45 days or he will be turned into the animal of his choice. The satire was thick and heavy, almost too much so at some points. The message of the film was obvious, dating culture is so ridiculously trivialized and over emphasized to a point of insanity in our society. The characters bonded and fell in love over trivial physical ailments such as nosebleeds and near-sightedness. I adored the cringe-worthy deadpan, but I will admit, it wasn't fr everybody.
My last film was The Hollars which was written, directed, and starred John Krasinski (Jim from The Office, of course!) I was excited about this one, but I ended up being very disappointed. The plot was similar to that of Other People but the realness was stripped away and replaced with slapstick humor. It was cute and sweet, and I think Krasinski's performance was wonderful as a terrified son who was losing his mother and a terrified father-to-be, afraid of disappointing his child. But the dialogue was cheesy and didn't make any sense. There were too many half fleshed out subplots that took away from the best parts of the story. It was very much a B- movie for me. Not the best way to end the festival, but it was fantastic all the same.
Hopefully I'll be coming back year after exhausting year with a press pass in hand.
No comments:
Post a Comment