Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by afilado (A) on October 11, 2006 at 18:02:02

In Reply to: Only question: Does it rise to the rank of The Godfather? I mean, The Departed? posted by clarkjohnsen on October 8, 2006 at 12:36:00:

No. Doesn't deserve to be compared to "The Godfather"

This movie barely rises above the ordinary. Not a single memorable character much less a character I could like/dislike or identify with. Everyone was very actorly, hardly more. Wahlberg, much as I want to like him, was a one-note player here. Nicholson, a longtime favorite, simply chews on the scenery. I had the feeling that he was just fading out from the all the effort toward the end.

Those other two customary scene-chewers, Sheen and Baldwin, get higher grades from me for their restraint and humor. Poor Ray Winstone... he just becomes as the wallpaper. Watch him in "Sexy Beast" Hell, watch "Sexy Beast" period. The British do a much better job with this kind of film altogether. Scorcese should stick with doing Italians.

Oh, we know it's an Irish mob film because they tell us they're Irish. And they have those cute accents. Nowhere is there a hint of the kind of complexity of ethnic culture that is at the very heart of "The Godfather".

DeCaprio and Damon "whatizname" are again forgetable except for their inordinate onscreen time. Sorry they just can't yet carry a movie. I like them both better in roles that require less hubris. Think "....Mr. Ripley". The female love interest and the whole triangle thing were altogether superfluous.

Very difficult storyline to edit, I imagine, and I give this aspect of the film the same average grade. Scene cuts to convey the passage of time were often very awkward. When DeCaprio pounds hell out of the Providence hoods ( a great scene, by the way), he complains about his hurting right hand; moments later they're putting the cast on the left hand. Sloppy oversight. There were other storyline cues which occupied significant screentime but which then were simply dropped. Sloppy.

Script: mediocre. Lotta excess words and scenes which didn't serve the progress and clarity of the story.

I remember having a similar impression of the original; an interesting premise but it expects too much of the audience. Just got too fantastical. Like trying to condense a novel into a whizbang short story. All the clandestine telephone messaging in plain sight? C'mon. This seemed to be more believable in the original. The original did a better job, even in a foreign language, of setting up the two end "surprises" so that it wasn't a cheap resolution. Here, I felt like they were just tying up loose ends. Cheap.

Didn't appreciate the commercial product placements, either. Soft drinks, cars, restaurants.

I'm glad I saw the movie. I'm just disappointed that with all this star-power and public hype, it should have been better. Everyone associated with this film has done much better work. I didn't hang around for credits but did see on the way out that one of the executive producers is Brad Pitt. Explains a lot. This is an American pop film. It will fade quickly