I saw this film again in the middle of the night last night while trying to fall asleep. Needless to say, this is a noisy film,full of yelling and hysterics and certainly not a good film to lull one to bed.
First, I thought the scene where they are fooling around in the hotel room overly long, silly and noisy. Perhaps I have too much faith in mankind to believe that grown, professional men, at least one of which is a father, could suddenly behave in such a gross way. However, the inclusion of the hooker was believable. The way in which she died was not so believable as the hook didn't look so sharp and therefore would require much force to penetrate the cranium, but I can suspend belief and imagine a sharper, though much less likely on the back of a hotel door, hook. I couldn't suspend my belief enough however to believe that the effect of so much drugs could so quickly be nullified when the security guard showed up and the following activities.
Where things got very interesting was Christian Slater's role as a classic and dangerous psychopath. The point where the psychopath turns from acceptable to unacceptable behaviour is particularly interesting, and Christian Slater managed the change almost too well; given his other roles and the look in his eye in each, I almost wonder whether he himself has psychopathic tendencies or some other moral wasteland within his brain. While his character is abhorrent, he is such an almost perfect study that it is worth the time alone to watch the movie.
Cameron Diaz wins me over then loses me with garbage like Charlie's Angels and any other of her butt-wiggling movies. In this one, like in Being John Malkovich, her part is hilarious as the male vision of the prima donna bride. Her one-track mind as she gets closer to her wedding surely resonates with many women who marry for the wedding and forget about the man (possibly a reason for so many divorces), and one surely does not suspect the ending but are extremely gratified by it - and reminiscent of a Coen movie which elevated this movie somewhat.
I am unsure as to how I felt about Jeanne Tripplehorn. She is so pretty, yet so nauseating as a common house frau - I may have preferred someone more dowdy and believable but perhaps this is the exact effect the director wanted. I will want to see the movie again to study that character.
I certainly get Daniel Stern's jump in front of his minivan which is so Tarantino. People are so weird - if this was an amazing car or something, we almost would agree that we would try to stop someone from smashing our beloved toy by jumping in front. But this is a minivan - yuck - but it is what the minivan represents to him that is so symbolic. The crash was the end of his placid, family life,and he knew it. The fact that he died really didn't do anything but physically push the point home. I think I may have rather seen him complete his descent into insanity after the crash.
The story itself is not so unbelievable - especially with the involvement of many weak individuals under the influence of a pyschopath and a bride. The only thing I really didn't like was the cheap Jew reference - really unnecessary as I am not sure that knowing that some of them were Jews (or all of them except for Christian's character) made any difference whatsoever (except perhaps some commentary of the "Christian's" influence over the Jews or some such thing). Perhaps there was some hidden message from the Director that I am just not getting. I did take note that the movie had an Asian hooker, a Black security guard, a Christian psychopath, a WASP bride, and a bunch of Jewish bumbleheads totally out of their element. Haven't quite got all that together yet, but while I get the Jewish 'out of element' comedy, the Asian hooker and Black security guard didn't seem to me to enhance the comedic side of this black comedy.
I believe that in the hands of the Coen brothers I think this modern take on the Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky could have been a real descent into hell and a future requirement when studying ethics or psychology. It is unfortunate that the blood bath took precedence to pander to the mass expectations or for quick and easy acting and filming. I hope that one day it is remade without all the hysterics and swearing, perhaps limiting the deaths of the guys themselves and instead exploring the mental intricacies that were so promising at the beginning of the movie and at the end of the movie!
First, I thought the scene where they are fooling around in the hotel room overly long, silly and noisy. Perhaps I have too much faith in mankind to believe that grown, professional men, at least one of which is a father, could suddenly behave in such a gross way. However, the inclusion of the hooker was believable. The way in which she died was not so believable as the hook didn't look so sharp and therefore would require much force to penetrate the cranium, but I can suspend belief and imagine a sharper, though much less likely on the back of a hotel door, hook. I couldn't suspend my belief enough however to believe that the effect of so much drugs could so quickly be nullified when the security guard showed up and the following activities.
Where things got very interesting was Christian Slater's role as a classic and dangerous psychopath. The point where the psychopath turns from acceptable to unacceptable behaviour is particularly interesting, and Christian Slater managed the change almost too well; given his other roles and the look in his eye in each, I almost wonder whether he himself has psychopathic tendencies or some other moral wasteland within his brain. While his character is abhorrent, he is such an almost perfect study that it is worth the time alone to watch the movie.
Cameron Diaz wins me over then loses me with garbage like Charlie's Angels and any other of her butt-wiggling movies. In this one, like in Being John Malkovich, her part is hilarious as the male vision of the prima donna bride. Her one-track mind as she gets closer to her wedding surely resonates with many women who marry for the wedding and forget about the man (possibly a reason for so many divorces), and one surely does not suspect the ending but are extremely gratified by it - and reminiscent of a Coen movie which elevated this movie somewhat.
I am unsure as to how I felt about Jeanne Tripplehorn. She is so pretty, yet so nauseating as a common house frau - I may have preferred someone more dowdy and believable but perhaps this is the exact effect the director wanted. I will want to see the movie again to study that character.
I certainly get Daniel Stern's jump in front of his minivan which is so Tarantino. People are so weird - if this was an amazing car or something, we almost would agree that we would try to stop someone from smashing our beloved toy by jumping in front. But this is a minivan - yuck - but it is what the minivan represents to him that is so symbolic. The crash was the end of his placid, family life,and he knew it. The fact that he died really didn't do anything but physically push the point home. I think I may have rather seen him complete his descent into insanity after the crash.
The story itself is not so unbelievable - especially with the involvement of many weak individuals under the influence of a pyschopath and a bride. The only thing I really didn't like was the cheap Jew reference - really unnecessary as I am not sure that knowing that some of them were Jews (or all of them except for Christian's character) made any difference whatsoever (except perhaps some commentary of the "Christian's" influence over the Jews or some such thing). Perhaps there was some hidden message from the Director that I am just not getting. I did take note that the movie had an Asian hooker, a Black security guard, a Christian psychopath, a WASP bride, and a bunch of Jewish bumbleheads totally out of their element. Haven't quite got all that together yet, but while I get the Jewish 'out of element' comedy, the Asian hooker and Black security guard didn't seem to me to enhance the comedic side of this black comedy.
I believe that in the hands of the Coen brothers I think this modern take on the Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky could have been a real descent into hell and a future requirement when studying ethics or psychology. It is unfortunate that the blood bath took precedence to pander to the mass expectations or for quick and easy acting and filming. I hope that one day it is remade without all the hysterics and swearing, perhaps limiting the deaths of the guys themselves and instead exploring the mental intricacies that were so promising at the beginning of the movie and at the end of the movie!