Dark Waters
I enjoyed this movie overall but it is a dry as dust biopic about a large drug company's abuse of power over many years, so it will not be everyone's cup of tea. Set in a small rural town in deepest Virginia these little guys had little chance against the might of an international conglomerate defending it's reputation with unlimited financial resources. This was a carefully constructed movie from start to finish, it breathed in all the right places, with strong central performances and we were spoilt by other strong cameo performances. I do object to overtly political movies, and this movie was careful not to be so, it was (I would hope) largely revealing an historical abuse of corporate power.
I see a formula to these movies emerging, combined with a lack of action and repetitious scenes.
small guy complains, concerns brushed off, someone champions cause, mountains of paperwork, long hours, families under pressure, court case, finally wins in court, compensation, photos of real people.
This is perhaps the 4th movie in 6 months unveiling corporate corruption, I'm getting bored.
The acting was good, Mark Ruffallo is meticulous in his craft but his technical proficiency prevents an emotional attachement to the viewer, perhaps it is me, but he fails to move me and lacks charisma, and when this is juxtaposed with the performances of both Tim Robbins and Anne Hathaway who totally dominated their scenes, with suspressed anger, frustration and raw emotion, it just all happened behind the eyes the micro gestures. The movie is worth watching for Tim Robbins alone for his complex interpretation of a conflicted lawyer trying to support his friend and colleague.
Of course, behind all these cases lies unchecked capitalism that followed from all the markets opening up under Reagan and Thatcher, this was a unique time in history when for the first time we had the beginning of globalised markets with companies truly spanning international borders without any effective external supervision of their operations. Let us hope that slowly scrutiny and regulation bites at the greatest excesses of these monopolistic companies but I am sure there is more to uncover.
I enjoyed this movie overall but it is a dry as dust biopic about a large drug company's abuse of power over many years, so it will not be everyone's cup of tea. Set in a small rural town in deepest Virginia these little guys had little chance against the might of an international conglomerate defending it's reputation with unlimited financial resources. This was a carefully constructed movie from start to finish, it breathed in all the right places, with strong central performances and we were spoilt by other strong cameo performances. I do object to overtly political movies, and this movie was careful not to be so, it was (I would hope) largely revealing an historical abuse of corporate power.
I see a formula to these movies emerging, combined with a lack of action and repetitious scenes.
small guy complains, concerns brushed off, someone champions cause, mountains of paperwork, long hours, families under pressure, court case, finally wins in court, compensation, photos of real people.
This is perhaps the 4th movie in 6 months unveiling corporate corruption, I'm getting bored.
The acting was good, Mark Ruffallo is meticulous in his craft but his technical proficiency prevents an emotional attachement to the viewer, perhaps it is me, but he fails to move me and lacks charisma, and when this is juxtaposed with the performances of both Tim Robbins and Anne Hathaway who totally dominated their scenes, with suspressed anger, frustration and raw emotion, it just all happened behind the eyes the micro gestures. The movie is worth watching for Tim Robbins alone for his complex interpretation of a conflicted lawyer trying to support his friend and colleague.
Of course, behind all these cases lies unchecked capitalism that followed from all the markets opening up under Reagan and Thatcher, this was a unique time in history when for the first time we had the beginning of globalised markets with companies truly spanning international borders without any effective external supervision of their operations. Let us hope that slowly scrutiny and regulation bites at the greatest excesses of these monopolistic companies but I am sure there is more to uncover.