- N Adult:
- R Rated:
- IMDB link IMDB:
- 6.7 /10.0 IMDB Rating:
- 2021-02-05 DatePublished:
- 2021-02-06 Added:
- Writer:
- Sam Levinson, Director:
- Ashley Levinson, Kevin Turen, Producer:
All subtitles:
Trailer:
A+ acting for a D grade plot line
Within half an hour of watching them fight I was officially done.... but I stuck around because Zendaya. Which I imagine is the only drawcard for this film.If you enjoy watching couples fight wittingly and passionately - then this is the film for you. If not, hard pass.
Sounds like an argument the director recorded himself having with his wife
Yikes. I thought films were supposed to entertain you first, even in a moderate sense. The director of this film benefits from nepotism as his father is Barry Levinson (Wag the Dog, Sleepers, Good Morning Vietnam, Rain Man), so of course vanity projects like these are a given. I thought the dialog was even more insufferable and pedantic than his previous film Assassination Nation. The film comprises of constant ranting in a sort of stream of consciousness while trying to appropriate black twitter non-sequiturs that will go over people's heads - I mean, it's so cringe and doesn't play well in feature films. It reminded me of Waves and The Last Black Man in San Francisco - written by a bunch of suburban/trust fund kids appropriating and stereotyping black culture.
There are no characters to empathize with here. In fact, much like Marriage Story which was heralded like some sort of powerful expose on the pitfalls marriage life and divorce battles while conveniently downplaying the fact that the main character cheated, this film doesn't provide any context and we're supposed to just watch the ups and downs of an argument like a fly on the wall and what? No really, what's the payoff here?
I think the director of this film was in rehab too so maybe this film was an outlet for his frustrations because a lot of the dialog touches on what I assume is Euphoria given that John David Washington's character made a movie about a young girl addicted to drugs trying to get rehabilitated. Also the rant by the main character in regards to an LA Times review mirrors the bad review the director of this film got for Assassination Nation.
I guess the actors are avatars for the director and his wife, and to throw us off this fact they try to deter the audience by inserting a racial component of complaining about how a "white" LA Times writer perceives the protagonist's work, and adding constant namedrops like Spike Lee, Barry Jenkins etc.
I wasn't a fan of Zendaya or JDW. I think both actors come across as precocious, and it's unfortunate in Zendaya's case since it's not her fault that she perpetually looks like a child role-playing as an adult.
I think Sam Levinson is either going to ride the coattails of his dad or humble himself and actually polish his ideas before putting pen to paper.
Cinema is not just about superheroes and explosions....and I'm a huge comic nerd
Let me just sate the obvious first
BRILLIANT ACTING
I love Zendaya she's absolutely outstanding in this film and in general, but if you watch this film for Zendaya only and literally nothing else, you have absolutely no substance and no appreciation for ones art and are clearly ignoring an equally brilliant performance by John David Washington.
Anyone who has a problem with seeing the story of another couple or human emotion either has an unusually stable relationship or has never been in a relationship at all.
I'm seeing so many mixed reviews and the more negative reviews tend to say the same thing with absolutely NO originality. "it's pretentious" "not engaging" "it's just about a couple fighting". You don't have to like the film but at the very least be original in your criticism.
It's clear to me people are losing their sense of realism with being glued to the enormous trend of superhero sci-fi films and unnecessary sequels. Cinema is also about intriguing dialogue with realistic earthly circumstances. Sometimes you need to appreciate a more realistic emotional story.
This film is simple yet at the same time complex as what most relationships are. Human emotion and romance isn't sappy or cheesy one liners you see in sitcoms. It's deep, its raw, its cruel, and it crosses boundaries.
I give it a 7/10 overall it's a good film with excellent acting however the only critique I have with the film is that it remains the same with no unexpected twists or turns revealed.
They fight. For 100 minutes. That's it.
I had hopes for this film! The first photo Miss zendaya posted caught my eye. But oh god I wish I hadn't watched it. The cinematography is good but is authentic to this film. It just random shots of macaroni and windows. The acting is good but it's only as good as this story they are telling. Which there isn't a story to be told. Why is a white man writing about how black accomplishments are taken? Washington performs his character. Zendaya performs her character. Neither of them are fun or likable. Boring. Lazy. Just tiring and frustrating. The script was allegedly written in six days and it clear shows. Terrible movie. Yet it had all the write elements. How could it have that yet be so terrible.
In short. All these two people do is argue. And they aren't entertaining enough to watch argue for 100 minutes straight.
Insanely Pretentious
This movie was exactly what i was expecting when i saw the poster.
It is insanely pretentious that it is sometimes cringeworthy.
I think this is an interesting concept, a film consisting of just two people and showing their relationship over the course of a single night. After watching i think it might work better as a short film as by the end of its run time it seemed like it just had nothing else to say and felt like the same arguments over and over again.
The male character is a film maker that thinks he is the best film maker since slice bread and the whole time i just couldn't stop thinking that he was just a mouth piece for the director. His words felt like the directors. It was like film school pretentiousness with him constantly talking about certain directors and certain moves and not understanding them like Citizen Kane.
The whole shooting on film and in black and white was just done to be artsy in my eyes. Maybe it added something a little different to it but i thought it made this gorgeous house look terrible because the film was so noisy resulting in it being so grainy.
The construction of some shots were really nice.
The acting was ok. Zendaya was pretty good but the male lead was a little over the top for me. The script was another issue. It was so over written. It didn't feel like people talking, it felt like words of a page.
The plot was sort of infuriating. It repeated its self so much.
The worst part of the movie though was the plot regarding the critic. It was wrote from such a bitter place. The director obviously had a bad review from the LA Times probably the review for Assassination Nation. It was so awkward to watch. It is brought up so much and so often. Really really bad.
I would say you could definitely skip it.