I had wanted to see this film for a long time. I purchased it without seeing it first, and think it is a great movie. I was surprised that many more people were not saying more about it, esp. Roger Ebert.
It is, for many scenes, often even blocked exactly the same, a wonderful homage to the Godfather movies. The two sons with different temperaments, the female "outsider" i.e. Amanda/Kay characters; the father loving both, the "meetings" with the family, cops and brothers; the car scene where Bobby is in the front seat of the car going to make the meeting with the Russians, and then cut to the car spinning and going in the opposite direction; the lighting where the eyes are blacked out when Bobby meets the Russians, when the Duvall character is shot and falls in the street, and many others.
I liked this movie better thanGF3, to be honest.
It is, also, one of the most beautifully photographed films I have seen in a long time. The DP, and visual team did a wonderful job. Any still could stand on it's own as a great picture.
All of the acting, and especially work done by Eva Mendes, was fantastic!
What would have helped the film, for me, was most likely missing on the page: memorable dialog and interesting bad guys-why did we fear the Russians in the first place? They can't even kill right, and when cornered, they cut their own throats. In addition, it needs to have more conflict, revenge, and character arc, especially for Bobby. That he "changes" careers in the end would work better if he was a bad ass for the earlier part of the film.
It's OK that it moves slow, but it has to pay off in the end and there must be an emotion that drives us to want to get to the end; revenge is a good one; the audience has to "want" to get the bad guys as much as the characters in the movie. It is not over done; It broods, yes, but the only one that gets really "angry" is Amanda, played by Eva Mendes.
The only other things that needed a little more drama was the car chase ref to "Bullett"-we're in the car, not "looking" in; the reveal that the best friend was giving away the info, ref. to God Father 2-we never expected it; and the shoot out in the field, ref. to "Heat" takes place at night, and lots of blind spots.
If you say you did not like it, give it another shot. Someteims, when movies are slower than we expect it takes a while to get into them.
Ripley
It is, for many scenes, often even blocked exactly the same, a wonderful homage to the Godfather movies. The two sons with different temperaments, the female "outsider" i.e. Amanda/Kay characters; the father loving both, the "meetings" with the family, cops and brothers; the car scene where Bobby is in the front seat of the car going to make the meeting with the Russians, and then cut to the car spinning and going in the opposite direction; the lighting where the eyes are blacked out when Bobby meets the Russians, when the Duvall character is shot and falls in the street, and many others.
I liked this movie better thanGF3, to be honest.
It is, also, one of the most beautifully photographed films I have seen in a long time. The DP, and visual team did a wonderful job. Any still could stand on it's own as a great picture.
All of the acting, and especially work done by Eva Mendes, was fantastic!
What would have helped the film, for me, was most likely missing on the page: memorable dialog and interesting bad guys-why did we fear the Russians in the first place? They can't even kill right, and when cornered, they cut their own throats. In addition, it needs to have more conflict, revenge, and character arc, especially for Bobby. That he "changes" careers in the end would work better if he was a bad ass for the earlier part of the film.
It's OK that it moves slow, but it has to pay off in the end and there must be an emotion that drives us to want to get to the end; revenge is a good one; the audience has to "want" to get the bad guys as much as the characters in the movie. It is not over done; It broods, yes, but the only one that gets really "angry" is Amanda, played by Eva Mendes.
The only other things that needed a little more drama was the car chase ref to "Bullett"-we're in the car, not "looking" in; the reveal that the best friend was giving away the info, ref. to God Father 2-we never expected it; and the shoot out in the field, ref. to "Heat" takes place at night, and lots of blind spots.
If you say you did not like it, give it another shot. Someteims, when movies are slower than we expect it takes a while to get into them.
Ripley