When I saw that Blu-Ray at the shop and read "George Clooney" my first thought was - that's going to be a great movie. Well, after watching it I can say it was a fairly decent one after all. Some very beautiful landscape visuals, too.
But there are many missed opportunities for some touching scenes. Like when Alexandra grabs that cell phone, just like her willful mother, when there's a call from the real estate agency, before her father is able to stop her, and does his job talking instead of him. No emotion on his face. Or like when she tells him about discovering that her mother was cheating on him, sitting on the couch, then breaking into tears. He does nothing just standing around, when he could just sit down beside and comfort her like any loving father would be expected to. Or like when Alexandra's friend Sid is speaking bad of his wife while they're driving. Matt abruptly stops his car and all he's able to bring out at Cid is pointing a threatening finger and just sitting there afterwards as if lost in place, instead of throwing him out of the car which would be the sensible thing to do. Or or or, this could go on.
Speaking of which, I didn't really get it why that half-witted Sid had to be tagging along through the entire movie with his insolent grin and nothing meaningful to say. No sane father would be able to tolerate someone like him around for long, even being as clueless as Clooney playing one. Sid pretty much seemed to be out of place everywhere they went, making me wish Matt would throw him out already. Instead he is chatting with him and actually asking, of all people, the light-headed boy for advice on how to handle his own daughters. I guess there's nothing more to say after that.
It's clearly visible George is trying hard to get those emotions pushed out, in some of the scenes almost looking as if pushing (forgive me the comparison) with all his strength to give birth to a baby which isn't there in the first place. As that, there's lack of natural emotions on screen, (one notable exception being Shailene Woodley who I think was great playing his older daughter Alexandra) which is why the movie mostly left me with a feeling of dissatisfaction. Overall, it's a pleasant, well-done, but mostly forgettable movie, not one I'm going to be watching another time again. What it lacks is that special highs and lows which would make something really excellent out of it. There's mostly just dull melancholy dragging on throughout the movie. The same monotone guitar music playing all the time didn't help much either. It did resolve everything just before the end credits though, when a heart-warming sequence showed an image of the father and his two daughters being one family whole again.
But there are many missed opportunities for some touching scenes. Like when Alexandra grabs that cell phone, just like her willful mother, when there's a call from the real estate agency, before her father is able to stop her, and does his job talking instead of him. No emotion on his face. Or like when she tells him about discovering that her mother was cheating on him, sitting on the couch, then breaking into tears. He does nothing just standing around, when he could just sit down beside and comfort her like any loving father would be expected to. Or like when Alexandra's friend Sid is speaking bad of his wife while they're driving. Matt abruptly stops his car and all he's able to bring out at Cid is pointing a threatening finger and just sitting there afterwards as if lost in place, instead of throwing him out of the car which would be the sensible thing to do. Or or or, this could go on.
Speaking of which, I didn't really get it why that half-witted Sid had to be tagging along through the entire movie with his insolent grin and nothing meaningful to say. No sane father would be able to tolerate someone like him around for long, even being as clueless as Clooney playing one. Sid pretty much seemed to be out of place everywhere they went, making me wish Matt would throw him out already. Instead he is chatting with him and actually asking, of all people, the light-headed boy for advice on how to handle his own daughters. I guess there's nothing more to say after that.
It's clearly visible George is trying hard to get those emotions pushed out, in some of the scenes almost looking as if pushing (forgive me the comparison) with all his strength to give birth to a baby which isn't there in the first place. As that, there's lack of natural emotions on screen, (one notable exception being Shailene Woodley who I think was great playing his older daughter Alexandra) which is why the movie mostly left me with a feeling of dissatisfaction. Overall, it's a pleasant, well-done, but mostly forgettable movie, not one I'm going to be watching another time again. What it lacks is that special highs and lows which would make something really excellent out of it. There's mostly just dull melancholy dragging on throughout the movie. The same monotone guitar music playing all the time didn't help much either. It did resolve everything just before the end credits though, when a heart-warming sequence showed an image of the father and his two daughters being one family whole again.
Tell Your Friends