Twee is absolutely the word for this one. Some will disagree, but I’m of the mind that anything so experimental as this movie that draws the talent it has and the attention it will get by default is generally a good thing before it’s even begun. It kind of doesn’t matter if the result stinks, it’s fun enough to experiment, to do something different for a change. I felt the same way about Gus Van Sant’s Psycho remake, and even after the fact I still have a soft spot for that movie. Sadly, for me, unlike the Psycho remake, this doesn’t rise anywhere above those initial expectations.

Though the juxtaposition of the harsh reality, the sex and bad language with the 40s film making style is as striking as the high contrast black and white film stock it’s shot upon, the story is at turns either too dull or just too difficult to care enough to follow. Cate Blanchett does a great Greta Garbo, and Thomas Newman’s score is a lot of fun, but my problem with the movie is that while I want to believe Soderbergh and Co. made this movie with tongue firmly in cheek, something about it constantly tells me that this is unfortunately not the case; that for better or worse it’s exactly as serious and pretentious as it looks and sounds. If you’re a film buff and you can resist busting a gut laughing in the final scene – in fact, even if you’re not a film buff, you will probably get the reference, lol – I commend you. Seriously, the ending here: it’s not homage, it’s just silly, lol.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 22nd, 2007 at 2:10 am in 3 hearts, Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.