I don't think I've ever seen a movie that is this bad in quite so many ways. It really is kind of spectacular. As fkopun-27429 put it, it might just be the worst movie I've ever seen. It's almost worth watching for that reason.
First, the script is truly awful--the dialogue, especially. The characters seem to be explaining a film rather than actually participating in it. But the director has to take equal blame. As each scene begins, the characters seem to be standing in place, waiting for the cameras to roll. As if they were in the midst of doing nothing (except trying to make a movie) each time we come upon them. I think my favorite scene was where one of the characters is at home, looking in a mirror (in her living room) applying makeup. She steps away from the mirror, revealing the reflection of a mysterious intruder. Only he's standing about two feet behind her (he must've been *really* quiet!) However, she only seems to notice him when she goes back to looking in the mirror. This is followed by the most exposition-laden conversation possibly ever recorded on film. Or whatever they shot this on.
There's a weird, static quality to every scene. And I don't mean static in a stylistic, Wes Anderson kind of way. This lifeless feel is aggravated by the movie's unnaturally uniform lighting.
But there are also some truly bizarre visual moments in the film, too. There's one scene in which a woman is out jogging at night, then glances across what appears to be an open field. CUT TO what she supposedly sees: her neighbor's house. And through the living room window we see two (uniformly lit) people having a conversation. Seems straightforward enough. Only it looks as if they used some kind of optical effect to paste a rectangular section of an interior scene of the two people talking onto the outside of the house. Everything is out of scale, and it looks as if someone chainsawed a hole in the house so that we could watch two (uniformly lit) giants chatting.
There are a number of scenes that are marred by small flubs or physical errors that would have caused any other director or editor to discard that scene, but they've been left in because, I'm assuming, that was the only take they had.
The music is obviously just lifted from some library of canned mood moments.
It's as if everyone involved in this film was told, "Okay, people, we've only got four days to write and shoot a feature movie. I know that's not much time, but we're just going to have to do the best we can to get through this thing. If anything goes wrong, we'll fix it in post. Let's get to it!"
I had the impression that the actors were all quite capable, but they're struggling with the awful dialogue and the badly staged scenes. I felt sorry for them.
I gave it two stars because I thought the live sound was pretty good.
First, the script is truly awful--the dialogue, especially. The characters seem to be explaining a film rather than actually participating in it. But the director has to take equal blame. As each scene begins, the characters seem to be standing in place, waiting for the cameras to roll. As if they were in the midst of doing nothing (except trying to make a movie) each time we come upon them. I think my favorite scene was where one of the characters is at home, looking in a mirror (in her living room) applying makeup. She steps away from the mirror, revealing the reflection of a mysterious intruder. Only he's standing about two feet behind her (he must've been *really* quiet!) However, she only seems to notice him when she goes back to looking in the mirror. This is followed by the most exposition-laden conversation possibly ever recorded on film. Or whatever they shot this on.
There's a weird, static quality to every scene. And I don't mean static in a stylistic, Wes Anderson kind of way. This lifeless feel is aggravated by the movie's unnaturally uniform lighting.
But there are also some truly bizarre visual moments in the film, too. There's one scene in which a woman is out jogging at night, then glances across what appears to be an open field. CUT TO what she supposedly sees: her neighbor's house. And through the living room window we see two (uniformly lit) people having a conversation. Seems straightforward enough. Only it looks as if they used some kind of optical effect to paste a rectangular section of an interior scene of the two people talking onto the outside of the house. Everything is out of scale, and it looks as if someone chainsawed a hole in the house so that we could watch two (uniformly lit) giants chatting.
There are a number of scenes that are marred by small flubs or physical errors that would have caused any other director or editor to discard that scene, but they've been left in because, I'm assuming, that was the only take they had.
The music is obviously just lifted from some library of canned mood moments.
It's as if everyone involved in this film was told, "Okay, people, we've only got four days to write and shoot a feature movie. I know that's not much time, but we're just going to have to do the best we can to get through this thing. If anything goes wrong, we'll fix it in post. Let's get to it!"
I had the impression that the actors were all quite capable, but they're struggling with the awful dialogue and the badly staged scenes. I felt sorry for them.
I gave it two stars because I thought the live sound was pretty good.