I assume it was a great break for the director - a big budget movie with real pan-American stars. What a disappointment! I can completely relate to his plight for abandoned and exploited children, but as an art form - pardonne moi! It was fresh, groundbreaking and believable in "Lilya Forever" showing a Russian kid abandoned by her government and parents, and exploited in Estonia and then in Scandinavia. Here - a much weaker artistically, emotionally, and logically, attempt to develop the theme into a more global tell-all tale. Too bad, it paints a couple of hard-working (and yes, sorry to mention this, well-off) new-yorkers as complete morons, incapable not only of any rational move, but also of any true or at least understandable emotion. If Michelle Williams character is more or less believable, assuming she is severely overworked and terribly depressed, the lead "first lover" is just a walking caricature. There is literally nothing good to be said about this lead character played by Bernal. If people this inconsistent could reach adulthood in reality, they would never achieve any success in life, unlike in the movie. There are also other characters that are so cliché that one could just wonder if the screenwriter/director exercised any self-editing at all after compounding these two "heroines": a "good whore" and a "wise Philippina woman". The conclusion - even as a satire, it does not fly. Nobody needs a lesson on class struggle in such a naive and distorted form. Equaling being poor with "wholesome goodness" is even more superficial. One good thing though - the movie stimulates some thoughts of "downshifting". That is, why work hard, if harder you work - the less happy you apparently are, even if you do achieve your "goal" of living cushy life. A sort of stab at the American Dream. I guess many people could relate to that.
Review of Mammoth
