1/10
Condensed soap opera with a political message
29 August 2012
Most of the people can get past a pretty badly written script – otherwise there wouldn't be so many soap opera. But if you like soap operas, prepare for some really stomach-turning scenes. As someone from the Netherlands beautifully put it – it's war porn at its highest. I first heard of the movie from a newspaper story about some Serbian gangsters threatening the movie director – Angelina Jolie, if she comes to the premiere in Belgrade.

I said to myself, Oh my, what a treat, it must be a REALLY good movie if it made THEM angry. And, Oh my, what a terrible, horrible, heart-breaking miss. There are no 5 minutes in the movie without a major logical, artistic or documentation loophole.

After I saw this movie, I remembered two other movies I recently saw. One was "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider". I laughed like crazy at how outdated it was. And another one is "The Artist".

Why? Well, in this case, Angelina proved to be kind of like The Artist. Yes, we will continue to love her, how can we not? But she should remember that no matter how good a political message is for a movie, a bit of good taste is absolutely vital for a good movie.

And, well, she just didn't show any in this movie. Sorry, Angelina. You're still no Clint Eastwood. Maybe some other day, after you shoot some 20 more thousands zombies, aliens, Russians and so on.

I could go on for pages like this. But, in conclusion, only one more vital thing for understanding why my grade is so low compared to the movie's budget.

What beautiful two main characters actors Angelina had! And what an incredible mess. How limited was the connection between them!

One point. One extra point for just having Angelina trying to make a point and investing such a huge effort in it. It really makes my heart melt. (At least she tried to make a point, unlike so many directors recently.) One extra point for choosing so many actors from the countries in the region the story actually takes place in. It's really admirable, as well as the fact that she tried to film it in Serbia.

Also, I liked the fact that the main character actors are, coincidentally or not, really Serbian Orthodox and Muslim, exactly like in the movie. It is almost like a reconciliation message in the PR story.

Finally, I really liked the fact that the movie was filmed in the local languages as well. Wow, what a beautiful… beautiful gesture.
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