I like movies that have this kind of style. The camera work gives the story a naturalistic feel. Unfortunately, this motif isn't kept up and there are plenty of overly-artsy moments that are trying to make shortcuts for, and ultimately supersede, the story.
The great thing about this style of movie is that it enhances the idea of character, because it forces the story to focus on the smaller, telling moments in a relationship. Using this technique to focus on the absurdly decisive moments (as it does here) instead of these telling moments in this relationship counter-intuitively feels inauthentic because cheats the audience out of being able to see them for who they are instead of what they do.
The two leads have very little chemistry, and although this may have been intentional, it also makes watching this movie a very frustrating experience. In addition, their angsty narcissism makes them unlikable. These traits in and of themselves are not movie-killers, and there are plenty of examples of such characters in good movies. However, this movie is trying to steer us in a direction where the pathos for the characters has already been assumed instead of allowing the story to help us generate it on our own. Some of the things they do are outright baffling because we have not been allowed to see their third dimension, and as a result, we may not particularly care what happens to them.
At some point, this movie may have been trying to tell us something about the nature of being in a relationship and why people feel connected to one another, instead of just laying out the foundations of a story about one such relationship. It feels like the skeleton of a story that was never fleshed out because ultimately the details don't matter. Well, the details SHOULD matter and shouldn't be skipped over because that's where the magic happens.
I like most meet-cute sequences. But the first 20 minutes of this movie are so offensively cloying that it was difficult to take the rest of it seriously.
The great thing about this style of movie is that it enhances the idea of character, because it forces the story to focus on the smaller, telling moments in a relationship. Using this technique to focus on the absurdly decisive moments (as it does here) instead of these telling moments in this relationship counter-intuitively feels inauthentic because cheats the audience out of being able to see them for who they are instead of what they do.
The two leads have very little chemistry, and although this may have been intentional, it also makes watching this movie a very frustrating experience. In addition, their angsty narcissism makes them unlikable. These traits in and of themselves are not movie-killers, and there are plenty of examples of such characters in good movies. However, this movie is trying to steer us in a direction where the pathos for the characters has already been assumed instead of allowing the story to help us generate it on our own. Some of the things they do are outright baffling because we have not been allowed to see their third dimension, and as a result, we may not particularly care what happens to them.
At some point, this movie may have been trying to tell us something about the nature of being in a relationship and why people feel connected to one another, instead of just laying out the foundations of a story about one such relationship. It feels like the skeleton of a story that was never fleshed out because ultimately the details don't matter. Well, the details SHOULD matter and shouldn't be skipped over because that's where the magic happens.
I like most meet-cute sequences. But the first 20 minutes of this movie are so offensively cloying that it was difficult to take the rest of it seriously.