I'm not saying the movie isn't well acted, much of it is, and it's decently written. The problem for me is, this film exists to cast a positive light on euthanasia. The line between it being a movie about someone who takes their own life and propaganda for euthanasia happened around the time when the husband/father makes his case for the mental state of those who choose to take this path. It's not just that he's making the case for one specific person to make the choice, the speech is about the general mental state of all who make this choice. And subtly, they make sure that anyone who questions or tries to stop that is seen as selfish, unstable, unloving, or just in the way. To add to the lack of moral fiber, we find the husband and family friend have been engaging in adultery while the main character was sick, the wife approved of it and encouraged it, and any questioning of that decision is also cast aside as silly. Why would she have any qualms with her "husband and best friend loving one another?" The children who've found their father is having an extra-marital affair, and anyone in the audience who might object to such a thing, is patted on the head and assured that this is, of course, a very good and very healthy choice.
I'm not trying to say the situation presented in the movie is easy. Some are really put in to situations like that, and I've lived closely to similar situations in my family. It's one of the most difficult things one could experience. What I object to is presenting a gentle propaganda for euthanasia, and in reality suicide for anyone who feels their suffering unlikely to improve.
Skip this one.
Reviews
4 Reviews
Hillbilly Elegy
(2020)
Better than I expected.
7 December 2020
I'll be honest, I went in expecting to hate this, almost wanting to hate it, because I got so incredibly sick of hearing the book touted as a way to understand why Trump was elected in 2016. I didn't read the book, barely knew what it was about, but knew I kept hearing over and over about how it was about the kind of people who vote for Trump. I wouldn't have chosen to watch it, but someone turned it on when I was present, and in reality, it was a really interesting movie. The acting was well done, the story was interesting, it was a good movie.
American Folk
(2017)
Excellent music, sold visuals
12 November 2020
Most of this movie was as if they'd designed something specifically for what I'd want to see. The visuals were excellent. Whoever put in the work to make each scene perfect was deserves more money than they got. It's as if nothing was out of place, no car going down the highway, no item in a motel room, no piece of clothing, everything was masterfully curated. The visuals were excellent.
The music also was incredibly good. They really put the time in to curating the look and sound of the movie, and they are by far it's strongest points.
The story line was good, definitely interesting, a good road movie. There was a bit of an unnecessary subplot part way through which was designed to resolve a financial issue for the characters, but seemed like a way to give the movie credit for social commentary ("Gary, I just got a great idea, and it lets us get credit for taking on politics, war, and sexuality all at once!"), and the ending left a little something to be desired in the way of resolution. With a solid ending, it would have been more a 9.5, as it is, it's about an 8.5. It was worth the watch for the style and the music if nothing else.
Hell or High Water
(II) (2016)
Work of art
24 January 2019
This movie is excellent. The most striking thing to me was the cinematography. You could take a screen capture at just about any point in the movie and have a photo worth framing. It's stylistically excellent, and was a work of art visually. The writing was great, especially in the sense of the character personalities. Every character had depth and interest. I wouldn't call it a twist ending by any means, but I thought I had it called and I didn't. The music added a lot as well. If you like darkish new-westerns, this is definitely worth considering.
Tell Your Friends