Ron’s Review

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This movie was never on my radar. The trailers made it look like a slapstick comedy, a genre I avoid. But somehow it’s getting Oscar’s buzz so alas, I had to watch it.

I am unsure why this film chooses to focus on the most boring and sensationalist aspects of its story instead of the relevant, human plots. It’s all over the place because of this choice, and unfortunately, doesn’t do justice to the extremely pervasive systemic violence being perpetrated in the US. At times I thought I was watching a pastiche because of the directions this film went in.

The first act is nigh unwatchable. The ridiculous fetishization of the Teyana Taylor character, and the male gaze is unbearable. Her character makes no sense and then she disappears.

The movie comes into its own with the appearance of Chase Infiniti’s character. She’s the heart of the film and the driving force for the action. The second act is very strong with multiple plot points interconnecting, and well-paced action.

DiCaprio struggles at first to not be DiCaprio but eventually finds his footing. From then on, he’s excellent. Not his best work but not bad.

Why does Benicio del Toro keep getting roles where he’s interesting but sidelined? I would have much preferred a film about his character and the work he’s doing.

The third act is plodding and way too long. Yet it fails to wrap up some plot threads. Weird choices, again.

I don’t understand why this film is getting so much awards attention. It was entertaining at times but a very odd experience.

Mon’s Review

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Watched this because of all the buzz. I get that there’s a political message (several) underlying the story, but the film itself is hyper focused on the fetishization of one Black woman, and the idiosyncrasies of the Sean Penn character. Every time the film cut to Penn, I was rolling my eyes.

DiCaprio was great in this. I really enjoyed his performance. I’m wanted to see more of Del Toro and his character’s work. But that got sidelined for the sensational stuff.

The third act was way too slow and way too long. There’s a supposed twist that we saw coming a mile away. Another thing happens that was utterly ludicrous, and honestly, needless. It added 20 minutes to the runtime for no good reason. We'd already got the point by then.

I wanted to like this film, but crikey, this was annoying to watch in parts. People are calling it a masterpiece, but the ick is strong, and unnecessary.