First off, if any of you guys out there are reading this review to see if it has anything in store because your girlfriend is going to make you watch it, read on. Make no mistake, Frida is definitely a chick flick.....a chick flick that shows Salma Hayek naked about a half a dozen times! I know I'm a pig, but seriously guys, this is the only reason you'd want to watch this film. So, let her make you watch it and enjoy.
Now that my lewd itch for the day has been scratched, let's get to the actual film. Frida is supposed to be a story about the amazing life of a wonderful artist who had her fair share of tragedy, greatness, and heartache. The film and cinematography are truly stunning, using moving adaptations of Frida's art, certain scenes and moods are expressed with passion. Visually, it is quite epic and gives the actors much scenery to chew. Speaking of acting, Hayek and Molina are at the top of their game here and each have much character to work with. Hayek probably deserved her Oscar nod. There are also several interesting cameos by several great actors such as Ed Norton and Antonio Banderas...but their parts are very minimal and don't contribute much to the story.
While the aforementioned acting and visuals are truly great and impressive, the story for just didn't cut it. I simply did not care about it or what happened really. I was constantly looking at my watch as a result and felt that much of the film could have been cut down. There seemed to be many pointless scenes that added nothing to the picture. It could be that this is just not my cup of tea and I'm fine with that. I have no doubt that this is a favorite of many, but it probably caters to the more feminine crowd. I'm not saying it was a bad film, it's just not my bag and didn't do anything for me. It probably didn't help that I watched both Kill Bill films directly before this one.
If you enjoy either of the leads, you'll probably find some interesting elements here. For me, I found it to be average.
Now that my lewd itch for the day has been scratched, let's get to the actual film. Frida is supposed to be a story about the amazing life of a wonderful artist who had her fair share of tragedy, greatness, and heartache. The film and cinematography are truly stunning, using moving adaptations of Frida's art, certain scenes and moods are expressed with passion. Visually, it is quite epic and gives the actors much scenery to chew. Speaking of acting, Hayek and Molina are at the top of their game here and each have much character to work with. Hayek probably deserved her Oscar nod. There are also several interesting cameos by several great actors such as Ed Norton and Antonio Banderas...but their parts are very minimal and don't contribute much to the story.
While the aforementioned acting and visuals are truly great and impressive, the story for just didn't cut it. I simply did not care about it or what happened really. I was constantly looking at my watch as a result and felt that much of the film could have been cut down. There seemed to be many pointless scenes that added nothing to the picture. It could be that this is just not my cup of tea and I'm fine with that. I have no doubt that this is a favorite of many, but it probably caters to the more feminine crowd. I'm not saying it was a bad film, it's just not my bag and didn't do anything for me. It probably didn't help that I watched both Kill Bill films directly before this one.
If you enjoy either of the leads, you'll probably find some interesting elements here. For me, I found it to be average.