Well, I just got back from my yearly pilgrimage to see the nominees for the Best Live Action Academy Award. Compared to other years, this is an interesting field, as I actually liked all the films and see there being no clear winner. Usually I have at least a few of them I don't particularly like but this is a good crop...but there also is no clearly 'perfect' film as well. So, in light of this, my predicting that "The Confession" will be the most likely of the films to win is not at all certain--as I see this as mostly a three film race but any of the five could easily win.
The film begins with a cute kid (Ardal) announcing to his pretty teacher that he was in love with her. However, this is not a typical sort of crush, as the kid buys the lady a ring and writes a date in his planner when he anticipates marrying her in ten years! Later, when the boy and his mother see the teacher with her new fiancé, the boy is crushed--and angered because the fiancé seemed a bit insensitive towards her. How the kid resolves all this is just plain crazy--and left me very, very cold and a bit confused. Was it advocating gun violence or saying the kid's behavior was good?! What about a woman who could condone this? I just felt very conflicted over this one and felt this 'surprise twist' made the film almost impossible to believe--though the acting and direction were still very good.
I think "The Crush" is the least likely of the five films to win and although I liked the film and greatly respect it, it had some plot problems that left me a bit confused. Up until the very end, I loved the film but the final confrontation scene left me wondering many things--and I hated the response by the teacher as it seemed to make no sense and seemed a bit vicious and bizarre. I'd say more, but it would give away too much of the plot...but it just seemed like the wrong way to end this film.
The film begins with a cute kid (Ardal) announcing to his pretty teacher that he was in love with her. However, this is not a typical sort of crush, as the kid buys the lady a ring and writes a date in his planner when he anticipates marrying her in ten years! Later, when the boy and his mother see the teacher with her new fiancé, the boy is crushed--and angered because the fiancé seemed a bit insensitive towards her. How the kid resolves all this is just plain crazy--and left me very, very cold and a bit confused. Was it advocating gun violence or saying the kid's behavior was good?! What about a woman who could condone this? I just felt very conflicted over this one and felt this 'surprise twist' made the film almost impossible to believe--though the acting and direction were still very good.
I think "The Crush" is the least likely of the five films to win and although I liked the film and greatly respect it, it had some plot problems that left me a bit confused. Up until the very end, I loved the film but the final confrontation scene left me wondering many things--and I hated the response by the teacher as it seemed to make no sense and seemed a bit vicious and bizarre. I'd say more, but it would give away too much of the plot...but it just seemed like the wrong way to end this film.