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ThatMovieWatcher
Reviews
Renoir (2012)
Beautiful but Boring
I enjoyed the experience of watching the film. The contrast of the beauty of the model and the natural landscape of South France against the ugliness of the war and Renoir's disease was...beautiful. The movie was intentionally a lot like a painting.
Also like a painting, the creator of the movie leaves a lot of the story to the viewer's imagination. Neat. Very artistic. I think I get it, but I still expect more of a story and character development from a movie.
Other than Renoir, who were these people? What, if anything, motivated their interest in each other? If there is no story there, can you tell us something about Renoir's earlier years? Something? Anything?
Side Effects (2013)
So Implausible It Became Boring
TV shows and movies that feed certain stereotypes make me angry. This was one of them. It annoyed me how mentally ill people were portrayed in general. They depicted the practice of psychiatry as it was 100 years ago. Sessions 2-3 times per week. Shock therapy. Nurses in psychiatric hospitals running around with sedative needles administering drugs to "crazy" patients who refuse them (that's been illegal for maybe 50 years, not 100). Then the crazy ending, which is supposed to "blow your mind" with the ridiculous twists and hot lesbian tongue flicking. The only reason why it wasn't predictable was because it was so implausible you could never guess what would happen. That's not mind blowing. That's just cheating.
Polisse (2011)
"Law and Order SVU" meets "As The World Turns"
Horrendous crimes are the backdrop of a movie focused on a group of emotionally volatile and unprofessional "officers" in the Child Protection Unit. It is allegedly based on actual cases, but the officers are no doubt works of fiction and not very believable.
The main point of the entire film can be gotten in the first thirty minutes: it's a difficult job. After an hour, I was getting bored. After 1.5 hours, I was looking at my watch and checking my phone for the run time of the movie. After 2 hours, I was wondering if I should just leave. Finally, it ends after 2 hours and 7 minutes.
Here's how to save some time and money and get the same effect: 1) Watch one episode of Law and Order Special Victims Unit and 2) Watch one episode of the soap opera, As The World Turns. There, I just saved you $10 and 7 minutes of your time.