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Reviews
I Care a Lot (2020)
Nothing funny about this film
I only managed to finish watching this film after having checked the ending on the Internet while I was a third way into it. There was no way I could have endured the irritating feeling I was getting if I thought the main character (Rosamund Pike's Marla) was going to get away with her scam in the end. I am not sure why so many reviews refer to the film as a black comedy or as containing funny scenes - there was not one scene or dialogue that I would remotely classify as comedy or that elicited laughter, even for the wrong reasons. The topic dealt with is instead rather tragic and very early in the plot I started feeling frustrated about what was going on - because it is very easy to imagine how similar situations arise in real life. And even though we all know there are lots of evil people out there and one cannot condemn a film for dealing with a grim subject or portraying awful individuals, Pike's character in particular somehow manages to go beyond evil. There is something really disturbing in the premise that a perfectly sane person would practically incarcerate elderly people and condemn them to a slow, lonely ending for the sake of money. What is even more disturbing is that the film goes on and on, literally until the last 2 minutes, showing Marla going from one success to the next, escaping all attempts to stop her or punish her. The most she suffers is a single broken tooth (which, without delay, she gets replaced once out of trouble).
The saving grace of the film is Pike's incredible acting, Dinklage's presence (as Roman, another baddie character, who somehow is one upped by Marla in both meanness and intelligence) and a couple of satisfying scenes: the Mafia lawyer's (Chris Messina) first exchange with Marla (punchy acting and dialogue), the mafioso's mother's strength and cold composure and use of the C word (Weist was eeringly good at her relatively short moments in the film) and, of course, for me the 'best' part, which was the ending. It is not the best part because it was particularly well done but because it provides some guilty, feel-good moment if you need an ending that gets the really bad guy/girl their comeuppance. The ending is why I have given the film 5 stars and not lower. Interestingly, the rest of the bad characters' fate is not dealt with by the ending, but I think most people will get so repulsed by Marla's cocktail of bad traits and her incredibly steely portrayal that they will be less bothered if the rest of the evil surrounding her is left unpunished.
The Guilty (2021)
Great acting, meaningless ending
The film started as very promising and I was convinced it was my kind of film, intense, suspenseful and dark, but not too dark. Unlike others, I didn't find the dialogues annoying or a torture to the ears, on the contrary I thought the sound was very well dealt with and appropriate to the film style. I equally liked the setting, not being able to see anything beyond the room Gyllenhaal was in, wondering what was going on at the other end of the line and the whole premise. There was a point, towards the last 20 minutes of the film when I started losing interest and got baffled by the main character's reactions. I didn't get the reason why all of a sudden Gyllenhaal got so emotional and I certainly missed the point of his change of plea. There was no background to his actions prior to the 911 call that lead to his trial and even when some snippets were revealed I failed to see how his success at preventing a mentally unstable person from killing herself (and the child she injured from dying) made him feel more guilty about his own crime (?) than before the call. I don't regret watching the film just because Gyllenhaal is always good at whatever I've seen him in, but it's not the kind I would recommend to friends or watch again.
The Baker (2007)
So stupid it was exhausting to watch
Idiotic humour, in fact nothing funny about this film. I suspect it has only got the average rating it's got due to many voting for the fact it's a 'British' film, I can see no other explanation for anyone giving this moronic film 5 stars. I don't mind bland, I don't mind predictable or simplistic, when you're in a mood for some easy viewing but this movie was disconcerting in how bad it rated in every area; caricature acting, one silly character after another, meaningless plot, torturous attempts at being funny. The person I watched it with laughed a couple of times so I can blame my lack of appreciation to entirely not getting the type of humour utilised but I would still rate highly a humourless comedy if it had other merits. This film had none. I found it almost excruciating to watch for the fact it was shamelessly stupid but still had this feel of thinking itself very cool, eccentric and somehow 'different'. There were some quirky parts that some will perhaps appreciate but I find no joy in absurd characters and situations that amount to nothing as a whole, all random and sketchy, adding no structure to glue it altogether, no depth or purpose and at minimum are not even funny. Still, if you find exploding sheep and toilet humour funny you might be one to give this film 10 stars.