I rarely quit a film, but after 30 minutes (a third of the running time), I couldn't take any more.
Many reviewers here comment on the low-budget filmmaking, but I found no faults whatsoever with the technical side of "Tracks." Similarly, the leads seemed entirely competent. So if these filmmakers overcame two of the biggest hurdles to making a good movie -- technical competence and acting chops -- how could they fail?
In a word, "screenplay." The couple's chemistry was nonexistent and the stabs at humor were sophomoric. First, they engage in a mediocre and over-long bout of cutting insults (is this an English thing?); then we try to wring laughs out of speaking a foreign language by pronouncing English words with a bad accent; then we try to use the vacation GoPro to sneak a porn clip of the wife; this leads to the (almost always fruitless) attempt to use masturbation as a comic vehicle... and we haven't even gotten to the explosive diarrhea, which yes, can happen on a vacation and can be funny to a 13-year-old, but is mishandled badly here.
The film's topic (how might a maturing couple rekindle their connection) is a rich vein for comedy and pathos, but after a third of the movie, the Tracks mine had only produced a pitiful mound of slag; I cut my losses and reclaimed an hour of my life.
Many reviewers here comment on the low-budget filmmaking, but I found no faults whatsoever with the technical side of "Tracks." Similarly, the leads seemed entirely competent. So if these filmmakers overcame two of the biggest hurdles to making a good movie -- technical competence and acting chops -- how could they fail?
In a word, "screenplay." The couple's chemistry was nonexistent and the stabs at humor were sophomoric. First, they engage in a mediocre and over-long bout of cutting insults (is this an English thing?); then we try to wring laughs out of speaking a foreign language by pronouncing English words with a bad accent; then we try to use the vacation GoPro to sneak a porn clip of the wife; this leads to the (almost always fruitless) attempt to use masturbation as a comic vehicle... and we haven't even gotten to the explosive diarrhea, which yes, can happen on a vacation and can be funny to a 13-year-old, but is mishandled badly here.
The film's topic (how might a maturing couple rekindle their connection) is a rich vein for comedy and pathos, but after a third of the movie, the Tracks mine had only produced a pitiful mound of slag; I cut my losses and reclaimed an hour of my life.