Just lately, I've been picking really nasty, exploitative revenge movies that pretend to be empowering to their female subjects, but the writers and directors still have to align the narrative into a male fantasy. It's a tricky boundary to walk, but .45 does it by introducing a whole cast of characters you just can't give a damn about, then wallowing in their pathetic lives. Overall, it's not really a bad film, but what makes the difference between a bad film and a good film is the compassion the audience feels for its characters, and unfortunately, Milla Jovovich's character is a manipulative slut. I was amused by her, saddened by her, then bored with her and finally just annoyed.
The plot is simple, although the director tells it out of order to try and make it more interesting. A woman is in a bad relationship with a petty thug, and rather than do the righteous thing and kill him herself, or the legal thing and have the cops deal with it, she finds a way to get her friends to take care of him for her. I didn't read the DVD cover closely, so I was expecting a heist/Bonnie&Clyde type movie, but what I got was a tale of a bunch of nasty, trashy people. They all kind of made me sick, but the worst was Milla's husband, a brutal criminal named Al. He's jealous and petty, but they have a lot of good sex, so this compels her to stick around. Finally, she has enough when he lays into her one night and accuses her of sleeping around (it's clear that she has, but no one deserves what she gets). He beats her badly, which I found unusually upsetting.
However, my sympathy didn't last long, when instead of pressing charges and having the animal locked up right away, she involves her friends in trying to frame him for murder. I don't care how many people someone screws at a time, but using their emotions and letting them think you're promising something is just wrong, and in the end I was left feeling that she was far worse than Al. I guess that was the point.
I feel that art is meant to entertain, to inspire, to challenge, and to make you feel like the characters have changed through the course of the narrative. I was disappointed.
The plot is simple, although the director tells it out of order to try and make it more interesting. A woman is in a bad relationship with a petty thug, and rather than do the righteous thing and kill him herself, or the legal thing and have the cops deal with it, she finds a way to get her friends to take care of him for her. I didn't read the DVD cover closely, so I was expecting a heist/Bonnie&Clyde type movie, but what I got was a tale of a bunch of nasty, trashy people. They all kind of made me sick, but the worst was Milla's husband, a brutal criminal named Al. He's jealous and petty, but they have a lot of good sex, so this compels her to stick around. Finally, she has enough when he lays into her one night and accuses her of sleeping around (it's clear that she has, but no one deserves what she gets). He beats her badly, which I found unusually upsetting.
However, my sympathy didn't last long, when instead of pressing charges and having the animal locked up right away, she involves her friends in trying to frame him for murder. I don't care how many people someone screws at a time, but using their emotions and letting them think you're promising something is just wrong, and in the end I was left feeling that she was far worse than Al. I guess that was the point.
I feel that art is meant to entertain, to inspire, to challenge, and to make you feel like the characters have changed through the course of the narrative. I was disappointed.