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Blairsav -> Political Gangster? (25/9/2012 8:20:41 PM)
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First off, is this a good movie? Yes it is a good, fun , great looking film. Does it have it's faults? Of course. However the good outweighs the bad, only just. Let's start with the good.
The main attraction here is the acting calibre, with great acting from James Gandolfini, Ben Mendelsohn, and Ray Liotta. The two that stand out the most are Brad Pitt and Scoot McNairy, both give Oscar worthy performances. Brad Pitt, who plays a hitman, who doesn't like to get too up-close-and-personal. Here Pitt' brings a lot to the table, and gives his despicable character a somewhat more human touch. However the film gives McNairy his chance to shine, and does he do it well. Giving a performance that goes from great to tremendous in the later half of the movie. Scoot' plays a low-level, wanna-be, almost frightened gangster. The real star is off the screen, Andrew Dominick. With two excellently filmed shots, he yet again shows us what he brings to the table, and the level of talent he holds. The film gives a great ending, with good dialogue throughout.
So the bad, well, the film doesn't know what it wants to be. Does it want to be a political film, as we are bombarded with lous interruptions about the presidential election and the economy. Why? I'm not sure, to either misdirect us into thinking there's something going on beneath the surface, or to make the movie seem more real. Or does it want to be a Crime drama. While this works well with other films, with the likes of the Coens', here it does not.
Another fault is that the characters are so loathesome, it's near impossible to sympathise with any of the characters, you almost end up laughing at what happens to certain characters.
VERDICT
Beneath the shroud of faults, is a great, excellently acted, wonderfully directed movie just trying to escape. There's even a very small 'The Sopranos' reunion.
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