To me, The Grifters reminded me of a plain cheese sandwich. While you specifically order the sandwich for the "cheese" element, without the bread there would be no sandwich at all. When you take a bite, the softness and delicate nature of the bread will give you your first impressions of the rest of the sandwich. It is the first and last thing you taste, so it needs to remain consistent, tasty, and fresh. The Grifters was the bread to your average sandwich. The beginning and end of this film was innovative and creative as was the darkly depressing ending, just like a slice of fresh bread, but the center of the film left much to be desired. The center of the film ruined the entire cinematic experience due to its lack of direction, consistently poor filler, and sub-par feeling that this wasn't the best cheese sandwich ever made, but instead just one created for the masses. It was disappointing to see this film implode from the inside, but one cannot shake those breathtaking moments that anchored this film out of their mind. Director Frears did a decent job, but I think that if Scorsese would have helmed this project, it would have been something entirely different
and enjoyable.
One of my major concerns with this film was the acting. Here we have this gritty, pulp-ish film that really needed to have some powerhouse actors ensuring that we see this darkness from our couches, but instead it seemed like none of the main cast was giving their full potential. I had trouble with Cusack because of his 80s comedy roots. He was my major issue with the film Eight Men Out, and a big element in this one. He just cannot seem to release that raw emotion that takes you away from Cusack the actor and immerses you deeply into the life of Roy Dillon. For the entire film, I kept seeing Cusack (a la Better off Dead ) instead of the powerful character he was supposed to be. The same can be said for the other actors as well. While I do believe that Huston was the stand out player in this film, she wasn't spectacular. Her character was too underdeveloped for us to really have a handle on her issues. I felt no emotion for her when she was having trouble with the mob because I knew nothing of her history. It was assumed, and that is where Frears tumbled this film. Bening, well, was a naked Bening. She spent more time without clothes than really showing us her intellect behind grifting. I realize that nudity was her superpower, but this was a character driven film, and these characters needed more development, more emotion, and more substance than what was presented.
The story seemed choppy to me. While, again, I will state that the beginning segment and ending climax were superbly designed, the rest of the film jumped from one place to another giving us less and less per each jump. It was as if Frears had extra time in his film and needed to fill it with whatever he could to pass the time. I would have loved to see more time with Dillon's mentor, more between Lilly and Bobo, and several more scenes with Myra to fully explain how she fell into this picture. Frears spent too much time filling holes with scenes that were fun, but not poignant. This ultimately hurt the film in the long run because by the end, we didn't care. An apathetic viewer proves that you have lost the battle.
Finally, the element that completely caught me off guard was the mother/son combination that Frears did incorporate well into the story. At first, I thought this was going to be a film about a big grift that would tear down our characters one by one with disgust and distrust, but instead Frears changed it to this wild dynamic between Cusack and Huston. Their chemistry together was decent. While some moments felt like reading was difficult for the two, other moments seemed to send electricity through the air. Frears developed the idea that the vicious circle of life does exist and this mother/son combination is living proof. Roy becomes what Lilly tried to leave him out of, and even falls for a girl that is similar to his mother. Roy is so engulfed in his mother that the ending should come as no surprise when Frears changes themes from mother/son to a near Oedipus complex. It is shivering, but in this film it works. This element kept my eyes focused on the film longer than I should have, but I had to see where Frears was going with this.
Overall, I wasn't impressed. As I bit into this cinematic cheese sandwich, I thought it was going to bring new flavors into my mouth. I was waiting for that surge of intense flavor (which happened on the first and last bit), but throughout the center I was left with nothing more than a couple of slices of cheese that provided me with no fulfillment. The actors could have been stronger. Cusack is still growing and I think that the early 90s were too early for him to try to develop his drama wings. He needed more time, with smaller roles in independent dramas, to fully grasp what he was getting into. I do not see where the awards were needed for this film, but perhaps it is because I had not read the book that this film was based. Maybe it was the darkness surrounding this film, or Bening's nudity, but it just didn't leave that lasting impression on me. Skip it, you will not be disappointed.
Grade: ** out of *****
One of my major concerns with this film was the acting. Here we have this gritty, pulp-ish film that really needed to have some powerhouse actors ensuring that we see this darkness from our couches, but instead it seemed like none of the main cast was giving their full potential. I had trouble with Cusack because of his 80s comedy roots. He was my major issue with the film Eight Men Out, and a big element in this one. He just cannot seem to release that raw emotion that takes you away from Cusack the actor and immerses you deeply into the life of Roy Dillon. For the entire film, I kept seeing Cusack (a la Better off Dead ) instead of the powerful character he was supposed to be. The same can be said for the other actors as well. While I do believe that Huston was the stand out player in this film, she wasn't spectacular. Her character was too underdeveloped for us to really have a handle on her issues. I felt no emotion for her when she was having trouble with the mob because I knew nothing of her history. It was assumed, and that is where Frears tumbled this film. Bening, well, was a naked Bening. She spent more time without clothes than really showing us her intellect behind grifting. I realize that nudity was her superpower, but this was a character driven film, and these characters needed more development, more emotion, and more substance than what was presented.
The story seemed choppy to me. While, again, I will state that the beginning segment and ending climax were superbly designed, the rest of the film jumped from one place to another giving us less and less per each jump. It was as if Frears had extra time in his film and needed to fill it with whatever he could to pass the time. I would have loved to see more time with Dillon's mentor, more between Lilly and Bobo, and several more scenes with Myra to fully explain how she fell into this picture. Frears spent too much time filling holes with scenes that were fun, but not poignant. This ultimately hurt the film in the long run because by the end, we didn't care. An apathetic viewer proves that you have lost the battle.
Finally, the element that completely caught me off guard was the mother/son combination that Frears did incorporate well into the story. At first, I thought this was going to be a film about a big grift that would tear down our characters one by one with disgust and distrust, but instead Frears changed it to this wild dynamic between Cusack and Huston. Their chemistry together was decent. While some moments felt like reading was difficult for the two, other moments seemed to send electricity through the air. Frears developed the idea that the vicious circle of life does exist and this mother/son combination is living proof. Roy becomes what Lilly tried to leave him out of, and even falls for a girl that is similar to his mother. Roy is so engulfed in his mother that the ending should come as no surprise when Frears changes themes from mother/son to a near Oedipus complex. It is shivering, but in this film it works. This element kept my eyes focused on the film longer than I should have, but I had to see where Frears was going with this.
Overall, I wasn't impressed. As I bit into this cinematic cheese sandwich, I thought it was going to bring new flavors into my mouth. I was waiting for that surge of intense flavor (which happened on the first and last bit), but throughout the center I was left with nothing more than a couple of slices of cheese that provided me with no fulfillment. The actors could have been stronger. Cusack is still growing and I think that the early 90s were too early for him to try to develop his drama wings. He needed more time, with smaller roles in independent dramas, to fully grasp what he was getting into. I do not see where the awards were needed for this film, but perhaps it is because I had not read the book that this film was based. Maybe it was the darkness surrounding this film, or Bening's nudity, but it just didn't leave that lasting impression on me. Skip it, you will not be disappointed.
Grade: ** out of *****