Reviews

Laughed out loud several times watching this movie. The ending surprised me. I essentially tuned in for Patton Oswalt because I'm a fan. I generally like Theron too. I didn't realize it was directed by Jason Reitman. I think if you like Reitman's movies, you will like this movie.

I didn't expect to like it nearly as much as I did...

Hilarious... if you like darker comedies.

One of my favorite parts was at the bar when Mavis and Buddy are watching Buddy's wife play the drums with her band and sing the song Mavis uses to brood or fantasize about her past life with Buddy. Apparently, it appeals to Buddy and his wife too, because while his wife is singing and drumming along, the camera focuses on Buddy with this huge smile on his face while Mavis is right behind him looking really upset about it. It's a little bit of a sadistic movie that way that the more miserable Mavis is, the more the viewer wants to laugh (at least I did).

I liked the movie because it appears to share honest/authentic conversations with prostitutes around the world.

Comes off as a lament for prostitution, culture and humanity, although some of the ladies appear to be OK or even happy with their lifestyle. Not sure it impacted my opinion much but seems like the type of film that I will remember.

Ultimately, it leaves the viewer to ask all the whys, and in that way it comes off more like a piece of art work than journalism, which I like.

I get bothered by people blathering about propaganda and neutrality. I have read few books and watched few movies that came across as truly neutral. I'm not sure it's even possible if I were nitpicking. Easiest solution is for someone to make a case, make a point, weave a message, create a propaganda piece and let someone else counter it in their own film or book. The more potent the message, the more it will take into account counterpoints and other perspectives anyway. The artist, write, filmmaker always has to leave something out, which means he has to make choices, which means it's always biased. I prefer biased. I added this paragraph because IMDb won't let me publish without at least ten lines, so I had to add something.

This was an oddly good movie.

The movie shows two people struggling with their bond for each other while having difficulty staying together due to citizenship border policies. I think what they did perhaps a poor job of was demonstrating WHY they were so in love with each other, besides his stupid chair gifts. Granted, I think that is a difficult thing to show well. It just happens. I guess what I'm saying is that it wasn't clear what about each other they loved so much. I think that was the mystery of the film for me. They both like Paul Simon. Who cares? And maybe this was intentional. Perhaps this was meant to be the point of the title, like crazy, because no one knows why they want to be with each other, or those they feel they love so much, which is beyond reasonable explanation.

I liked that the movie relayed some of the feelings and ways people relate romantically that I share in my life. When two people begin to depend on each other and grow together, a bond is formed, and just because they brake up (for whatever reason) does not mean they stop thinking about each other, as much as they wish they could... move on with their lives. They can't. I have experienced that in my life. I have wanted to move on but not really been able to. I don't think, like some reviewers suggest, that the storytellers were trying to suggest that these people were sluts or whores, and that modern day people are superficial. Quite the opposite I think from what happens. I think they were showing viewers that they were incapable of moving on, despite the pressures (laws, citizenship, distance) separating them, which is why they kept getting back together. And, I think it was a "logical" ending, because the border thing was superficial; if they both mutually loved each other that much, they would find a way, or at least try really hard to find a way.

What really impressed me about the movie though, aside from what the director of photography accomplished with the canon 7d, was that they managed to make a happy ending feel sad. It feels sad I think because they have both damaged the relationship's trust, honor, and/or sacredness. The relationship becomes jaded, and I think that's a common predicament people find themselves in. But perhaps it will heal, and that's why they ended with the shower scene? In my mind, shower scenes tend to follow rape scenes.