As a long time fan of Kris Kristofferson I was eager to see what he had to offer to the screen, not having seen any of the other films he has acted in. I sort of scoffed when I saw Hilary Duff in the opening credits, but decided it had been a long time since her dumb kid movie days and that I should give her a fair chance.
Opening scenes are nice, seem to be establishing a good amount of visually pleasing imagery, the characters seem really interesting. I was intrigued. I did remain intrigued for much of the movie, but once it hit the two thirds mark I really felt like something was missing. I was having a hard time putting my finger on it, but really once I got to the end of the movie it felt like there was so much that was unsaid, unexplained and un-followed through with. The story seemed to addle on and continue moving, but nothing really follows through with Dwight Yoakum's character Boyd. The eventual reunion of E.F. Bloodworth and his ex wife Julia just really falls short. I enjoyed Kristofferson on screen, but it just seems that the story went too many places at once (Not to mention the horrible dream sequences! I felt like I was watching a TV re-enactment!) and didn't carry enough weight in any of them to tie them together very well. Val Kilmer's character is interesting and pretty well played and his part of the story plays out in it's entirety, it seems. Pretty great scene in the end between Fleming and Warren. But Hilary Duff did not really redeem herself, in my eyes. Some OK acting, but still, less than what I was expecting from such a good-looking movie. It was sort of like watching a movie based on a book that you really like and just noticing how much had fallen through the cracks. Except I didn't quite know what was being lost. Maybe it was a book first and I should read that instead.
All in all: enjoyable, worth watching but don't get your hopes up too high. This is no Crazy Heart.
Opening scenes are nice, seem to be establishing a good amount of visually pleasing imagery, the characters seem really interesting. I was intrigued. I did remain intrigued for much of the movie, but once it hit the two thirds mark I really felt like something was missing. I was having a hard time putting my finger on it, but really once I got to the end of the movie it felt like there was so much that was unsaid, unexplained and un-followed through with. The story seemed to addle on and continue moving, but nothing really follows through with Dwight Yoakum's character Boyd. The eventual reunion of E.F. Bloodworth and his ex wife Julia just really falls short. I enjoyed Kristofferson on screen, but it just seems that the story went too many places at once (Not to mention the horrible dream sequences! I felt like I was watching a TV re-enactment!) and didn't carry enough weight in any of them to tie them together very well. Val Kilmer's character is interesting and pretty well played and his part of the story plays out in it's entirety, it seems. Pretty great scene in the end between Fleming and Warren. But Hilary Duff did not really redeem herself, in my eyes. Some OK acting, but still, less than what I was expecting from such a good-looking movie. It was sort of like watching a movie based on a book that you really like and just noticing how much had fallen through the cracks. Except I didn't quite know what was being lost. Maybe it was a book first and I should read that instead.
All in all: enjoyable, worth watching but don't get your hopes up too high. This is no Crazy Heart.
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