OK so let's get the obvious out of the way, this is a social film. It talks about current events and issues in America today, that's why I downloaded it. The topic being very relevant and real quite excited me. I had seen a film on similar theme way back “crash” and absolutely loved it. However, if the film wanted you, as the viewer, to see its point then it failed. There was simply too much going on throughout the film for you to get engrossed.
In all total there are about 7 different stories being told in this film, so you never actually get attached to any of the characters. Even Harrison Ford's character isn't endearing or someone you especially side with. I would rather they had stuck with the more controversial issues they put forth in the movie, but instead they end up trying to show you both sides which this film doesn't start out trying to show you. It is a view of America from an immigrant’s point of view and how hard and trying it can be trying to become a citizen. They tried tossing in a few murders to keep things interesting, but the murders and the other stories almost become afterthoughts making you remember that they're even in the film. The best case of this being the Asian kid's story in the film, which to me felt not even necessary. It even felt a little rehashed from Gran Torino.
This film could have been a very hardcore movie that would have maintained the issue at hand while making me see their side if they had narrowed their scope. Oddly enough all 7 stories are loosely connected through mostly haphazard coincidences. They lose audiences due to the fact that many won't like that the story takes a very convoluted route to make it point(s). On the one hand it does show that America does have an ugly side towards immigrants, but it does show that there are happy endings here as well.
In the end, I feel that with such star power as Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, and Ashley Judd they could have put a much more powerful performance and film together leaving me very unimpressed.
No comments:
Post a Comment