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Nerve (2016)
Pretty uninteresting and uneventful
This is a hard movie to review because there is really no point to it.
It is probably meant as a statement about the danger of the internet, the addiction and the pressure associated with social medias, and how detached we are from all the suffering in the world through our screens and phones. Maybe, but this is not what the movie is actually really about in its development.
Basically, we just follow a teenager (Emma Roberts) trying to figure out her future by having a crazy night-out and going out of her shell by using the application "Nerve", where "watchers" proposes challenges to "players" with an increasing difficulty as well as money if they complete each of them, until a final showdown at the end of the night between two players who have the most watchers. She then meet a love interest (Dave Franco) and through her challenges, she revises her relationship with herself, her mother, her friends and her life in general. Classic "coming of age" movie stuffs.
It's as formulaic as it gets. The movie is called "Nerve" but it clearly lacks some. Nothing feel exciting, nothing feel "dangerous" or thrilling. Most challenges outside of one are pretty tame and never feel life-threatening or really that rebellious or outraging. Worst, they don't really bring anything to the characters in terms of development except for the adrenaline of completing them. Everything feels rushed and too easily resolved. The last challenge is almost breaking the fourth wall and being addressed to the audience with heavy speeches and bad camera work, way too far from the action. The third act in its entirety is very weak and not credible in the slightest, and the characters reaction make less and less sense with each passing minute until the very end.
The worst part is, if we take away the "Nerve" game and replace it with Dave Franco being a classic attractive bad-boy with a mysterious past who seduces Emma Roberts, it would have work pretty much exactly the same. In the end, the game is played more like a lazy excuse for a watered-down thriller with a weak romance vibe. There are many things to say about the way we relate to social medias and peer pressure through the internet. This movie is treating it like an after-thought or a pretext for the plot and never challenges the viewer in his/her relationship with those kind of content and way of life.
"Nerve" is a very disappointing movie which looks good in terms of cinematography and that is easy to watch without being too bored. However, it's also way too bland, unexciting and never at no point take advantage of his subject matter. Catch it on Netflix or such when it's available if you're intrigued, but it's really not worth spending any money on it.
Deepwater Horizon (2016)
Nice call-back to the old disaster movies concentrating, more on the human tragedy
This movie is based on a true disaster that took place in 2010, where a drilling rig (Deepwater Horizon) exploded and caused one of the worst oil spill in history. However, the movie concentrates solemnly on the human aspect and on what happened on that day to the people involved. It's not about the politic, the environment or the impact of humans as a specie, but about the human pettiness and greed as well as its courage and resilience in the face of danger. All the ingredients to make a good old- fashion disaster movie.
The structure of the film itself is pretty standard. As most disaster movies, we are first introduced to some of the main characters that we will follow during the mayhem that will ensue. Then something bad happens because of a bad decision motivated by greed/power or outside forces. Finally, we get our action scenes in all its explosive and deadly splendor. Nothing that we haven't seen before.
The real force of this movie is its focus on the human element. In more recent movies, CGI and effects have been the real star of the genre, with no need for big acting chop or real emotion. "Deepwater Horizon" revives this aspect seen in classics such as "The Poseidon Adventure" and "The Towering Inferno". Now, unlike those, there are no big inspirational characters that is boasted as the hero. There is just one main character, a simple family man (played by Mark Wahlberg) who is doing his best to survive and help the few people he can help on his way.
As a reenactment of a real tragedy, this movie seems mostly respectful of that aspect, downplaying the "hero" aspect and enhancing the reality feel. The camera is always close to the people, and there is never a moment where we feel a sense of "aw" in face of the fire and the destruction, only dread and horror of how insignificant we are against nature, no matter how much we want to believe we have it under control.
Don't expect a pop-corn flick such as "San Andreas" or "The Day after Tomorrow", or you will be most likely disappointed. Overall, "Deepwater Horizon" is a decent movie concentrating more on the human aspect of a real event. Pretty standard in its structure but well-paced and with a good focus on its characters and an emotional ending, it is a good old-fashioned disaster movie, well worth a watch.
The Intern (2015)
No charm, no wits, no drama, nothing
This is one of my most boring and horrible experiences in cinema.
At first I thought it was just going to be a little generic and predictable, but mostly harmless. A sub-par version of "Driving Miss Daisy" and "The Devil wears Prada".
Then, it entered the second part, and everything went to hell. Seriously, the last hour of this film felt like 4 or 5, easily, with stupid situations going absolutely nowhere, horrendous dialogues, no character development, no change at all in any of them, and lots of cryngy moments.
To summarize it, this film had so many sub-plot going on all at once that it couldn't decide what type of film it was. It was not a comedy, it was not a drama, it was not a romance, it had no meaning, no pay- off, nothing to say about old people working and their impact on their life and the effect on the younger generations, except for a few jokes at the beginning. De Niro character was way too happy to need to work there in the first place, and was this "angelic" character that everyone loves, and Hathaway was at most a stressed-out woman, nowhere near as a bad person or someone rude to her employees. In the end, the characters almost didn't change at all. At most, Anne Hathaway got to relax a bit, but that's pretty much it. There were no character arcs for any of them, and no one learns anything or changes in any way. The husband/boyfriend (don't remember if they were married or not...) is a terrible person at the beginning and was just exactly the same at the end, the little girl "struggle" to not see enough of her mom went absolutely nowhere, neither how the younger interns dealt with their lives...
This movie was horrible, with its stupid music underlining every little moment, with its horrible pacing that made the last hour feel like at least four, with its horrible message about relationship, with all his terrible cliché on old people and working women, and people in the larger sense.
There was no heartwarming moments at all, no character felt vulnerable in any way, or relatable at all. The dialogues were tremendously bad, going absolutely nowhere, bringing us nothing, no wit or enjoyment or comedy. Which is very bad for a film resting entirely on people talking.
One of the worst piece of trash I've seen in my life.
PS: I love Anne Hathaway and respect De Niro, and I enjoyed "The Holyday" from this director, so it has nothing to do with any prior prejudice against anyone in this film. If anything else, Hathaway and De Niro are the ones that made me going to this movie. Thank you, guys, really. Still like you though, actors still got to eat. Still...