There were a few things that bothered me about the film, besides the actual concept of snuff films. Although, there were a few things that interested me as well.
I thought it was amusing how Mary's mother offered Cage's character a drink - and seeing him refusing it so casually, just made me think back to Leaving Las Vegas. Little incidents like these that link characters from other movies together amuses me. However, it made me think that perhaps Cage was making me recognize his character in Leaving Las Vegas too much. Like when you're watching a movie and you become distracted by the actor. It made me realize that Cage's acting in this one was sub-par. I wasn't involved in the story enough and his acting wasn't convincing me to believe the story. It was a bit embarrassing to watch him watching the film in the beginning. He was too awkward, and too obvious. Did his talent take a holiday in this one? The monotonous narrative (the phone calls) over the momentous (too overpowering) music made me cringe. Was an editor hired for this movie? Was everything done in one take? Did Cage shoot all this in the wee hours? I don't understand what went wrong, but something was definitely missing.
I really enjoyed Joaquin Phoenix in this one. Though not the most likeable character, he portrayed it convincingly (well to the non-S&M-buff like me) and affably. The wife had not much substance to her character so not much to work with, but I believed the patience required by her character was stretched a bit far.
The message that stayed with me throughout the second half of the film, may I roughly quote "The devil doesn't change. The devil changes you." This is what made me able to stay with the second half. If this hadn't been said, I would have found it very difficult to justify the downhill slide of Cage's character into the depths which he so loathed. But, this made it make sense for me.
I guess I was lucky I had heard so much about the film beforehand, because it desensitized me to material that would have, under circumstances in which I knew nothing of the film prior to watching, would have horrified me and left an indelible impression on my mind. As it was, I was left with the concept that if evil is stronger than good, it can't help but change you. And no matter how good you try to be, seeing the lowest depths of human depravity can never be removed from you, once exposed.
I thought it was amusing how Mary's mother offered Cage's character a drink - and seeing him refusing it so casually, just made me think back to Leaving Las Vegas. Little incidents like these that link characters from other movies together amuses me. However, it made me think that perhaps Cage was making me recognize his character in Leaving Las Vegas too much. Like when you're watching a movie and you become distracted by the actor. It made me realize that Cage's acting in this one was sub-par. I wasn't involved in the story enough and his acting wasn't convincing me to believe the story. It was a bit embarrassing to watch him watching the film in the beginning. He was too awkward, and too obvious. Did his talent take a holiday in this one? The monotonous narrative (the phone calls) over the momentous (too overpowering) music made me cringe. Was an editor hired for this movie? Was everything done in one take? Did Cage shoot all this in the wee hours? I don't understand what went wrong, but something was definitely missing.
I really enjoyed Joaquin Phoenix in this one. Though not the most likeable character, he portrayed it convincingly (well to the non-S&M-buff like me) and affably. The wife had not much substance to her character so not much to work with, but I believed the patience required by her character was stretched a bit far.
The message that stayed with me throughout the second half of the film, may I roughly quote "The devil doesn't change. The devil changes you." This is what made me able to stay with the second half. If this hadn't been said, I would have found it very difficult to justify the downhill slide of Cage's character into the depths which he so loathed. But, this made it make sense for me.
I guess I was lucky I had heard so much about the film beforehand, because it desensitized me to material that would have, under circumstances in which I knew nothing of the film prior to watching, would have horrified me and left an indelible impression on my mind. As it was, I was left with the concept that if evil is stronger than good, it can't help but change you. And no matter how good you try to be, seeing the lowest depths of human depravity can never be removed from you, once exposed.
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