User Reviews

How much does a movie's originality in terms of storyline play into it's ultimate, overall quality? Should a film be seen only in terms of the movies that have come before it?

From it's title and poster to the actual film itself, Kodachrome sets itself up to be THAT kind of a road trip movie. The kind that features Hollywood jaw lines gazing into the setting sun as your quintessential bright red convertible speeds through a quiet countryside. This is accompanied with that melodious Indie track that rounds out the scene. Kodachrome is most definitely about something; it has meaning, it has purpose. The performances are affecting. The direction is largely unobtrusive and contents itself with letting the script do all the talking, exuding a tenderness that pervades and persists throughout the entire film.

Yet, all of these accomplishments are left denied by the aforementioned screenplay which not only resorts to a fundamental premise that is unoriginal but dialogue that routinely divulges into the perceived cliches of the 'road trip' movie. Characters repeatedly break into melancholy monologues about love, life and art, making biting observations on the human condition. From afar, the plot unfurls predictably and there is nary a moment where the viewer is surprised. Also, as a movie where the narrative is driven by the praise for tradition film format and analog technology, and despite having been aptly shot in 35mm film, photography as an art form itself does not play a more central role in dictating the nature of the storytelling. Given it's narrative simplicity, the experience could have been unique if the origins and vitality of preserving the old art form were entwined into the story, serving as an effective case for the preservation of the film format.

While these are my qualms with the movie, there is no denying that it is constructed with care and an eye for detail that could easily have been left out. The characters are fairly well realized through whom the movie commendably balances the humour with the drama. The performances manage to convey the gravity of the story and the simple confidence with which the movie progresses is sure to engage most viewers. Ultimately, Kodachrome stands as an undemanding, welcoming road trip movie; you won't feel new feelings, but you will revisit old ones, much the same way you might look at some personal Kodak photograph of old.

Why in gods name you people have to be so damn hard,it was a nice movie,Harris was really good,Sudeikis too it was a brilliant soundtrack and two men on a road trip trying to finally understand each other before one of them is gone so the other can move on...Get a grip to reality you little babies....

A man out of luck in his job at a recordlabel is surprised at work by his father's nurse. She tells him his father is dying and wants to take one last trip to Kansas to get his remaining kodachrome photo's developed. Needless to say the son is less than excited to go on a trip with his bad-tempered dad but he does it anyway. Though fairly predictable this is an enjoyable movie. The leads, Jason Sudeikis, Ed Harris and Elisabeth Olsen give fine performances. Especially Sudeikis excells in a role you don't really expect from him. The movie has a nice soundtrack and is nicely shot. Recommended

Estranged father and Son going on a road trip isn't entirely new material. Ed Harris as the father , Ed Harris as he is always delivers. Jason Sudeikis for some reason always looks like a Mister Know it all in many of his roles, it makes one wonder if he has other facial expressions or emotional depth, he always appears to be the same person in all his roles.

If you're a baby boomer like me, you will feel the nostalgia we have pre-selfie era. There is something magical with how the old cameras worked and the placing of the film roll. Indeed those were the days.

You'll know what happens in this film, predictable as it is there are still some charming elements in it.

A stale relationship between a father and son for longer than a decade comes to an understanding and final conclusion during a road trip from New York to Kansas to develop the last roles of Kodachrome 35 mm film. Enjoyable story.

A famous photographer roadtrips across the country with his estranged son as his dying wish to develop a roll of film. While Kodachrome is unsurprising and everything you would expect, it is perfectly orchestrated, has suburb acting and is emotionally powerful.

A friend recommended this film from Netflix and I clicked it on, but could only watch the first twenty minutes because I had an appointment to go to. This first twenty really got me into the story. The getting-to-know-the-people of the story was very entertaining, absorbing and drew me right in. I suppose the title got me very interested in the first place, I have personally taken about 5,000 Kodachrome slides in my photography, so I am very well familiar with the medium and this was of particular interest to me. Yes, Ben is right, we do it to freeze time and save a moment. Overall the film got me involved right from the start and I went along with the personalities shown and it made a good story. It was good to see the characters and how they interacted and how the story played out. Entirely believable and I had strong and tender emotions while it played. Great entertainment. I recommend it to all. No shooting, no violence, no dazzling display trying to impress us, just a good story told by really great actors, shot well, edited well, believable.

'Kodachrome' isn't going to win any awards for originality. The family cross-country road trip story has been done before, often better than this.

The hook: Ben (Ed Harris), a world-famous photographer, is terminal. Before he dies, he wants to drive from New York to Parsons, Kansas to develop old rolls of Kodachrome film that he's been saving for years. Accompanying him are his nurse Zoe (Elizabeth Olsen) and his estranged son Matt (Jason Sudeikis), who reluctantly agrees to join and only does so because he wants to meet with a band in Chicago and convince them to sign with his label.

Each of the three have their demons. Ben is an insufferable jerk, Matt is divorced and dysfunctional, Zoe is also divorced and dysfunctional. But they're all together by choice, so they're still trying.

If you think you can tell where this is going, you're probably right. Pretty much scene-by-scene it's predictable. This certainly lessens the impact, but the performances and dialogue will keep you engaged.

Credit goes to the actors and the writers for making these characters and relationships feel lived in and real. The tension and acrimony between father and son showcase themselves almost immediately. Their dialogue cuts deeply, and the cruelty of the barbs they exchange startles.

Zoe plays the role of conscience, doing her best to help these two hard-headed boys settle their differences before it's too late. As soon as Matt puts his sword away and begins to show a lighter side, Zoe notices, and the viewers notice her noticing. Again, it's not hard to predict where any of this is going.

Zoe's character is frustratingly underwritten and underused. But the Matt and Ben relationship is well executed. The hostility feels real and so does the longing to connect, despite what has happened in the past.

The film offers some mixed messages about letting go of the past, which haunts each of the main characters in some way. A crucial monologue urges them to move forward, yet they're driving across the country to develop old film and preserve old photos. It's also ironic that a movie that romanticizes film is streaming on Netflix.

This film has meaningful messages to share, even if it's not entirely clear about everything it's saying. If you don't mind a formulaic family drama with moving and warm moments, this movie isn't a bad pick.

The storyline was honest. You can't go wrong with Ed Harris. Dialogue was clever and at moments, profound.

With the exception of the father and son, depth of the other characters were lacking though they all had a role to play.

Editing moved it along. Cinematography quite good and appropriate. Music matched the tone; understated. Excellent sound and direction very good given the parameters.

The photos shone brilliantly to the contrast of the film. Perhaps that was the subtext of the father and the real point of Kodachrome. Sometimes you get what you see only at the end of the roll..

Aside from some snarky dialogue thats a little rough at times, nothing here really stands out. The story is very predictable, the acting is solid but not special and the ending is similarly meh. I think an edgier script really would have made this an amazing movie. As it is, it was watchable but nothing spectacular.

Short review. this movie got my eyes wet, for the first time in 10 years i got a tear in my eye. i really needed it, and i know my people can reflect on this movie. it gets a 400% from me

4/25/18. This is probably one of the hardest must-see movie I have ever watched. That's because there are not too many father-son movies out there that address the difficult relationship that lots of men have and never talk about. This is because men can't bring themselves to admit they want that emotional bond with their father and son but doesn't know how to be vulnerable and strong at the same time. This movie addresses the issue - can an unlovable man ever be capable of being loved and love the son has driven away over time? Harris is the father that is probably the worst character I have ever seen on screen, truly abominable. He is dying and he goes out of his way to push away his loved ones. Sudeikis is the son who tries really hard, at the urging of his father's nurse (Olsen), to come to terms with his dying father. Olsen was just wonderful. She is really a good actress. The acting by these 3 were superb. Is it too late for acting awards? They all deserved something, and this movie is worth watching.

There's a saying that actor is only as good as the given material. Then again, sometimes good actors elevate an otherwise solid but unremarkable screenplay to new level.

This is certainly the case with "Kodachrome", a road movie / family drama set during the final days of the classic photo development system known as Kodachrome.

A genius photographer father (Ed Harris), his secretary (Elizabeth Olsen) and son (Jason Sudeikis) take a road trip in order to develop photographs at the last Kodachrome lab before it closes its doors for good, and try to settle old scores along the way.

I know, the plot summary is not terribly inviting but mere words can't convey attractive atmosphere and quality acting which are definitely the aces in the sleeve here.

Speaking about the leads, I was counting on Harris and Olsen giving good performances, I consider them among the most interesting actors of their respective generations. What took me as a surprise was how good Jason Sudeikis is at the central position.

Sure, he has a lot of experience - but witnessing a comedian offering a really memorable serious role is still relatively rare. Especially counting the instances when the movie was rather good too.

(For example, Eddie Murphy is markedly better "serious actor" than the works that he chooses to prove it in, such as "Holy Man" or "Mr. Church".)

"Kodachrome" is probably not gonna be the breakthrough that gets Sudeikis noticed as a bona fide movie star - the project is too small for that - but he (and it) deserves the recognition.

He's great as this acerbic guy always ready to sting, which is different from his usual bland good guy persona in movies. Harris's role is an interesting, chaning support for that - also stingy but with some added hidden evil.

And I just love Elizabeth Olsen in this (as usual, actually). She feels so authentic, straightforward and "in the moment" that her performance becomes a soothing, invigorating counterpart to two men's that is so desperately needed, both by the characters and the movie as a whole.

She's like the perfect embodiment of feminine energy as described in relationships guru David Deida's works: radiant, alive, enlivening, relaxing, and moving.

Without all this, there would be less to write and admire about in "Kodachrome". The story doesn't take risks creatively, preferring to stay firmly "middle of the road". Sadly, one can't expect much originality from a Netflix project. (In Estonia, only available in cinemas, btw.)

But, as mentioned above, there is something to be said about the strong acting bringing out the best of the material.

Harris, Olsen, and Sudeikis win with their committedness and earnestness, which compensates for the danger of the movie becoming too "cute" for its own good (an usual problem with mainstream approach).

Dialogue is rather sharp too, well balanced between sounding authentic and corny. This is a rather great feat in the age of "Facebook deep" where we read so many great sayings in social media that it makes us kind of jaded towards even the greatest spiritual wisdoms.

All in all, if the authors had avoided some chances to make the movie more sugary, I would given it even higher score of 8/10. Luckily, the excessive sentimentality only comes to play near the end and in relatively short bursts.

So one can still recommend "Kodachrome" as family drama with strong acting. Yes, it's mainstream, but so what?

When a movie touches the heart, savvy critics go wild on it, picking on it like bullies. There's bullying in this movie too, a hurtfulness I know so well from my own family. That in the short space of an hour or two, the good fight you feel when victims stand up for themselves collapses in a heap, and you realize something much larger's going on here.

I used to thread 35mm film into an old Leica but never with the battle skills of an old pro like Ben or with such stories as, we are led to believe, his photos told, but I know Kodachrome had a way of brightening and softening them at the same time. This movie moved me like an old slide I'd forgotten about, left jammed in a carousel and finally freed, so many emotions with it too.

"Kodachrome" is a character-driven drama that is proof of the concept that solid direction and good acting can transform even a mediocre script into something worth watching. It is an engaging story with top flight performances by all involved. Ed Harris is amazing as usual and actually this is the Jason Sudeikis and Ed Harris show, and it really works. The story is predictable, but even so, it takes a few twists and turns that I didn't see coming. The movie has real, carefully written characters and mostly avoids cliché, thanks to that. Movies like "Kodachrome" don't come around often enough in my opinion. When they do, we must think of them as a good choice of a film night.

If you love photography and music, this film is a must see.

Kodachrome (2017) follows Jason Sudeikis' character Matt Ryder, who reluctantly joins his ill, estranged father, Ben, played by Ed Harris, on the road alongside Ben's caretaker Zoe Kern, played by Elizabeth Olsen on a trip to fulfill Ben's dying wish of getting his Kodachrome film developed before the last existing Kodachrome development studio closes for good.

Without a doubt, Ed Harris is the standout of this cast. His acting and nuance brought his character to life and provided his character with depth, and draw that made him the most well rounded character in the film. Ed Harris did a wonderful job with drawing emotions out of scenes and bringing the audience into his mind state as a character.

Unfortunately my biggest gripe with the film comes from it's cookie cutter plot and it's unwillingness to do anything we haven't seen before a million times. We've already seen plots about bitter children being forced to join their estranged parents on adventures where the overlying theme is supposed to be heartwarming and family bonding, and Kodachrome doesn't try to break through that mold whatsoever and plays it safe a lot of times throughout the plot.

As far as acting goes, Jason Sudeikis and Elizabeth Olsen's performances seem relatively phoned in. Their on screen personas don't really compliment each other well at all and it makes for very static, boring scenes given their minimal chemistry.

If you were looking forward to this movie, I wouldn't deter you from checking it out but pad your expectations.

Good acting by all crew, but unfortunately the plot is incredibly predictable - I mean literally we guessed lines they say and gestures and obviously also "twists" in the plot... very sad - and a movie with analogue photography in title and intentions but not one single detail was interesting for fans of film... not recommended.

Son vs deadbeat but famous father. Ed Harris is the stand out as the Dad, a famous photographer. The story is moving and enjoyable if not terribly original, generational battles being a common tale. I enjoyed it, mo surprises but worth a watch.