It's terrific acting -- too bad the film was dissapointing. Great work by Deakins, four great performances, thought it was too stage-y and overdone, obvious.
It also hurts that it has one of the worst closing scenes of the year -- yikes.
My sentiments are pretty much the same. The acting is fabulous - Viola Davis and Amy Adams, in particular, both deserve noms for their subtle, nuanced performances. The ending, though, definitely left me flat and underwhelmed - it seriously undercut the effectiveness of what had come before.
Posted by cinefan at December 26, 2008 3:34 PM
comment #3
Tiny Tim says ...
Four great performances and yet the film was disappointing?
How can this be?
I think the Academy will look more kindly upon this film, as the SAG noms have already indicated.
Why is the film's climax used for a promotional clip? That's pretty desperate, given that this scene is essentially the turning point of the entire film.
Well, I still enjoyed the film, it's a fine movie -- I was just simply disappointed. I don't think it's lunacy to enjoy and appreciate performances in a film but come away unimpressed with it as a whole. I've heard that a lot about 'Revolutionary Road'.
By the way, I really thought Amy Adams was terrific in this.
And I've never heard of a 5+ minute promotional clip, this has got to be pulled from a screener or something, no? Maybe I'm wrong.
The difference between DOUBT and REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, Chase, is that RR is aggressively terrible and not even the acting can save it.
But your reaction mirrors my own to DOUBT; it was fine, I guess, though not particularly well-directed, overwrought and silly with the blunt symbolism. But the performances are great, with exception -- and I can't believe I'm going to say this -- of Meryl Streep, who is only sporadically convincing and sometimes comes off as a tic-riddled caricature. Viola Davis steals the whole damn film, and does so with little resistance.
I haven't seen the film yet, so I stopped watching the clip when the thunder started - that got me chuckling. Definately looks like a play translated to a film. The film directing, of what I watched, didn't seem very inspired.
comment #1
Chase Kahn
says ...
It's terrific acting -- too bad the film was dissapointing. Great work by Deakins, four great performances, thought it was too stage-y and overdone, obvious.
It also hurts that it has one of the worst closing scenes of the year -- yikes.
Posted by Chase Kahn
at December 26, 2008 2:57 PM
comment #2
cinefan
says ...
My sentiments are pretty much the same. The acting is fabulous - Viola Davis and Amy Adams, in particular, both deserve noms for their subtle, nuanced performances. The ending, though, definitely left me flat and underwhelmed - it seriously undercut the effectiveness of what had come before.
Posted by cinefan
at December 26, 2008 3:34 PM
comment #3
Tiny Tim
says ...
Four great performances and yet the film was disappointing?
How can this be?
I think the Academy will look more kindly upon this film, as the SAG noms have already indicated.
Posted by Tiny Tim
at December 26, 2008 3:41 PM
comment #4
Corey
says ...
Why is the film's climax used for a promotional clip? That's pretty desperate, given that this scene is essentially the turning point of the entire film.
Posted by Corey
at December 26, 2008 4:20 PM
comment #5
Chase Kahn
says ...
Well, I still enjoyed the film, it's a fine movie -- I was just simply disappointed. I don't think it's lunacy to enjoy and appreciate performances in a film but come away unimpressed with it as a whole. I've heard that a lot about 'Revolutionary Road'.
By the way, I really thought Amy Adams was terrific in this.
And I've never heard of a 5+ minute promotional clip, this has got to be pulled from a screener or something, no? Maybe I'm wrong.
Posted by Chase Kahn
at December 26, 2008 4:47 PM
comment #6
Corey
says ...
The difference between DOUBT and REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, Chase, is that RR is aggressively terrible and not even the acting can save it.
But your reaction mirrors my own to DOUBT; it was fine, I guess, though not particularly well-directed, overwrought and silly with the blunt symbolism. But the performances are great, with exception -- and I can't believe I'm going to say this -- of Meryl Streep, who is only sporadically convincing and sometimes comes off as a tic-riddled caricature. Viola Davis steals the whole damn film, and does so with little resistance.
Posted by Corey
at December 26, 2008 4:58 PM
comment #7
Edward
says ...
I haven't seen the film yet, so I stopped watching the clip when the thunder started - that got me chuckling. Definately looks like a play translated to a film. The film directing, of what I watched, didn't seem very inspired.
Posted by Edward
at December 27, 2008 10:50 AM
comment #8
Nan
says ...
People seem to be interpreting the final scene in different ways.
Some think she was expressing doubt in the Father's guilt.
My take was that she was still certain of his guilt but was expressing doubt in the church.
Posted by Nan
at December 27, 2008 10:58 AM
comment #9
Cadavra
says ...
Exactly. What other way could the film have ended?
Posted by Cadavra
at December 27, 2008 1:57 PM
comment #10
Chase Kahn
says ...
When I say, "the worst closing scene of 2008", I'm not referring to the lack of a resolution, I'm talking about the actual scene -- It's embarrasing.
Posted by Chase Kahn
at December 28, 2008 8:30 AM
comment #11
Chase Kahn
says ...
embarrassing*
Posted by Chase Kahn
at December 28, 2008 8:31 AM