I saw this as a midnight horror-show at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Film Festival on April 24, 2010. Knew nothing about the movie beyond the scant information contained in the festival program. Tired from a whole day of movie-going, I considered skipping this one but decided I'd watch the first 15 minutes or so. Then, unless my interest had been captured, I could walk out and head home for some much-anticipated sleep.
My interest was captured. After 15 minutes, I thought to myself, "This is pretty good." A bit later I thought, "This is really good." And before long I was thinking, "This is great!" As a result, "The Revenant" wound up ranking #1 on my 10-Best-List for 2010.
(Okay, for the record, my other 10-Best choices were: #2 "The Ghost Writer";" #3 "Toy Story 3"; #4 "The Happiest Girl in the World"; #5 "The King's Speech"; #6 "Tears of April"; #7 "Music on Hold"; #8 "Letters to Father Jacob"; #9 "Buried"; #10 "The North Face.")
Warning: I saw "The Revenant" under ideal conditions. Walked in on it "cold." Had no expectations, no pre-conceptions. If you see "The Revenant" after reading this review, you may be disappointed. It'll lack that element of surprise which made my experience of it so memorable.
Don't know if "The Revenant" will ever get wide distribution. It's a hard movie to sell since it can't easily be labeled or described or categorized. But one thing is clear. Writer-director D. Kerry Prior is something of a cinematic genius.
My interest was captured. After 15 minutes, I thought to myself, "This is pretty good." A bit later I thought, "This is really good." And before long I was thinking, "This is great!" As a result, "The Revenant" wound up ranking #1 on my 10-Best-List for 2010.
(Okay, for the record, my other 10-Best choices were: #2 "The Ghost Writer";" #3 "Toy Story 3"; #4 "The Happiest Girl in the World"; #5 "The King's Speech"; #6 "Tears of April"; #7 "Music on Hold"; #8 "Letters to Father Jacob"; #9 "Buried"; #10 "The North Face.")
Warning: I saw "The Revenant" under ideal conditions. Walked in on it "cold." Had no expectations, no pre-conceptions. If you see "The Revenant" after reading this review, you may be disappointed. It'll lack that element of surprise which made my experience of it so memorable.
Don't know if "The Revenant" will ever get wide distribution. It's a hard movie to sell since it can't easily be labeled or described or categorized. But one thing is clear. Writer-director D. Kerry Prior is something of a cinematic genius.