Review of Conception

Conception (2005)
7/10
An Intense and Daring Joke!
1 May 2008
Warning: Spoilers
The idea of taking risks always caught my attention. The film dwells between being "the most daring-successful" since A Rainha Diaba (The Devil Queen) and a "big wasted chance", like O Magnata, Meu Nome nao eh Johnny (averages 7.7?), and Quarta B(the least painful).

A relentless group of middle-upper-class youngsters in Brasilia puts in practice the "concept" where people must live in orgy, mix all drugs, and have no recollection of anything to become a "conceptionist". They even write the Conceptionist's Manifest.

Among the group consisting the main five characters lies "X", the leader, played nicely by Nachtergaele. X is an expert with medications and its components. He mediates the group and the drugs they use as he wishes. He is also against the concept of labeling things or names; therefore, his nick name. Eventually we understand he is an expert in several other things: he fakes documentation, check books, and he changes his personality becoming a chameleon of all things. The group is broken down by the police and the game is predictably over.

The acting here is really good overall and some lines will stick with you and make you laugh for quite awhile, however, Anarchism has never been so out of place and misguided in films. Movies like The Beach and Fight Club (both D. Fincher's) will come to mind in seconds of deja vu. The script and editing are the downfalls of the movie, like a band without a bass player (or like the one-day-band in the movie).

My vote is 7/10, and in some ways I know it's overrated, like most movies on IMDb. Despite of that, I believe this movie should be watched because of its truth to ambiguity present in all its forms and shapes, and the intensity of some scenes should make few people uncomfortable.
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