"Feed" is a movie I went into with high expectations because I have immense respect for Troian's story and her, as a person. She's real, authentic, warm, funny, and intelligent, and her story carries such gravity from a mental health, physical, emotional, and spiritual standpoint, but this was just terrible. Maybe my first mistake was going in with high expectations because in doing that I was sure to be let down and let down I was.
It was gimmicky and tried too hard to be clever, which led the whole story to feel contrived and me to not care about any of the characters and what happened to them. Not to mention that it had too many themes and didn't truly focus on anorexia, and fully flesh that out and all of what that means, expect for random pans to uneaten plates of food and Liv's gradual dissent into this world she has built for herself, but even that whole journey gets caught up in pretentious, muddled melodrama. I understand the idea of an evil, relentlessly controlling voice, and Troian trying to portray that, personify it even, but it just didn't work because I didn't find it believable in the slightest. It felt again like trying too hard and forcing something that wasn't working. Like it was nothing but a plot device. I wish there had been more focus on honest feelings, conversations, grieving, love, and coming to grips with recovery. None of it felt honest or sincere and that's where this movie lost me the most.
There were also parts that were confusing and hard to follow, notably the ambivalent character of Casey, as well as, we can't forget this, the weird incest hinted at between Liv and Matt. That was truly a sight to behold, the cupping of the chin, oh the cupping of the chin. Heart be still. Also, what was with all the slow motion falling scenes, as if it was constantly trying to be something more dramatic then it needed to be. It was all just too much, to be honest, too saturated with something that vaguely resembled tries at thoughtful meditations on life and death, which failed because each try was heavy- handed. That fits this movie to a T: heavy-handed.
Call me terrible for saying this because she took eight years to write this, and respect, serious respect, but the dialogue wasn't that strong, it just fell flat and didn't do the subject matter justice. And the music was horrible. Music is supposed to subtly accentuate moments and emotions, but this music just seemed unfitting and unnecessarily dark like I'd stumbled into a cheesy horror movie, complete with performances that weren't strong enough to offset or anchor all of the movie's other problems. Especially the parents...what was their problem?!
You may love this, so I won't stop you from digging in because meals aren't one size fits all, we all have different palates after all, but I think I'll feed myself elsewhere. Perhaps a restaurant with well done meals that have more heart and substance, instead of forgettable, showy portions.
It was gimmicky and tried too hard to be clever, which led the whole story to feel contrived and me to not care about any of the characters and what happened to them. Not to mention that it had too many themes and didn't truly focus on anorexia, and fully flesh that out and all of what that means, expect for random pans to uneaten plates of food and Liv's gradual dissent into this world she has built for herself, but even that whole journey gets caught up in pretentious, muddled melodrama. I understand the idea of an evil, relentlessly controlling voice, and Troian trying to portray that, personify it even, but it just didn't work because I didn't find it believable in the slightest. It felt again like trying too hard and forcing something that wasn't working. Like it was nothing but a plot device. I wish there had been more focus on honest feelings, conversations, grieving, love, and coming to grips with recovery. None of it felt honest or sincere and that's where this movie lost me the most.
There were also parts that were confusing and hard to follow, notably the ambivalent character of Casey, as well as, we can't forget this, the weird incest hinted at between Liv and Matt. That was truly a sight to behold, the cupping of the chin, oh the cupping of the chin. Heart be still. Also, what was with all the slow motion falling scenes, as if it was constantly trying to be something more dramatic then it needed to be. It was all just too much, to be honest, too saturated with something that vaguely resembled tries at thoughtful meditations on life and death, which failed because each try was heavy- handed. That fits this movie to a T: heavy-handed.
Call me terrible for saying this because she took eight years to write this, and respect, serious respect, but the dialogue wasn't that strong, it just fell flat and didn't do the subject matter justice. And the music was horrible. Music is supposed to subtly accentuate moments and emotions, but this music just seemed unfitting and unnecessarily dark like I'd stumbled into a cheesy horror movie, complete with performances that weren't strong enough to offset or anchor all of the movie's other problems. Especially the parents...what was their problem?!
You may love this, so I won't stop you from digging in because meals aren't one size fits all, we all have different palates after all, but I think I'll feed myself elsewhere. Perhaps a restaurant with well done meals that have more heart and substance, instead of forgettable, showy portions.