Alice: "There's nothing evil about wanting more!"
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I have a lot of trouble saying I liked this movie, and yet I find myself questioning why I can't just say it. Everything seemed to work for the film: the cinematography was beautiful, the premise was clever, the actors were convincing, the music fit the mood... and yet something still felt off about it.
I think the shortcoming of this film is that it isn't quite sure what it's trying to be. It sets out to explore greed, love, and the effects of physical and emotional pain... and yet it attempts at being lighthearted. The film revolves around this couple, Alice and John, who find a teapot that dispenses money whenever someone feels pain (either physical or emotional). Based on a short story by Tim Macy, the premise is incredibly interesting and yet from a writing standpoint it wasn't fully realized. Macy threw in comedic elements next to some really sadistic moments and it left me feeling like the whole film just missed it's mark.
I've never been a fan of "good/bad breakdowns" in reviews, but considering this is my first negative review, I'm going to have it:
The Good:
-Juno Temple looks gorgeous in this film and she acted in it really well (most of the time). I had seen her once before in Mr. Nobody and I think she has a cool energy about her.
-Michael Angarano was a great actor too, certain scenes he was funny and other he looked like a kicked puppy and he pulled it off incredibly well. For an actor I've never heard of I was very impressed. The last ten minutes of the film both in how he reacts and how he delivers the lines are fantastic.
-Cristin Milioti played a red neck! Her part wasn't terribly big or memorable, but I was surprised with how unrecognizable she was!
-The music throughout the film is solid. The score works at the end and the Avett Brother song in the middle was a nice soundtrack to the montage.
-Some of the smaller details were clever, like having John wear a shirt saying "Second Thoughts" during a conversation about having second thoughts.
-There was a Red and Blue color motiff in the film, with Alice wearing Red and John wearing Blue. I thought added a nice contrast of colors when they were both in the frame.
-And speaking of colors, I also liked how they had a colder color palette in the middle of the film, and a warm palette in the beginning and end. It was a nice symbolic effect.
The Bad:
-I'm not typically someone who gets offended by these kinds of things, but I have to make a note that this film was borderline racist/offensive! Apparently the teapot belonged to a Jewish woman who literally "stole it from Hitler" and so her sons violently try to take the teapot back. Now this is fine... except the two Jewish sons were remarkably stereotypical to an absurd degree. They dressed in Hasidic clothing, complete with peyot and (fake) beards and spoke with borderline Israeli accents. They knock on the door of John and Alice's house, say "Shabbat Shalom" and then continue to beat the crap out of John, not because they want the teapot, but because they want their money! I'd say it's fine if it weren't for the fact that the Korean character was an equally perpetuated stereotype. And their race wasn't even a significant part of the movie- Macy could've very easily have written characters with the same function just less... stereotyped and offensive. It just made the scenes that these characters were in uncomfortable.
-The writing at times was godawful. Juno Temple and Michael Angarano acted the best when there was very little to say, yet a lot to express (like in the final shots). Macy tried to make parts comedic and in doing so made everything very unbelievable. The unfortunate part is that he tried so hard to make the premise of the pot believable, and he succeeded in doing so... only to break the realism by writing a stupid and unrealistic line for comic relief. For example, John and Alice are getting dinner with this couple and they argue about who should "go to the bathroom" (to hurt themselves) so they'll have money to cover the bill. While the scene has a dark humor to it, the fact that John goes to the bathroom and you hear him scream and the couple just looks mildly surprised, and not even slightly concerned, breaks the realism that had been established in other areas! And there is a realism to it. They explain why they hide the money. They explain why they continue doing it. A lot of the film is well explain and then undermined by badly written dark humor...
I don't strongly recommend this movie, but it's not bad to watch if it's 3am and you can't sleep. It's the kind of movie that you can watch if you're too tired to scroll through Netflix.
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