A film of two halves and both enjoyable.
The first half setting up the premise and genuinely thought provoking. For me, it raised questions over the US approach of medicating against sadness. It seemed everyone was on anti-depressants and discussing different types they have tried as they would brands of washing powder. Also big pharma's role in all of this...do they provide a cure or in fact (by decidedly dodgy tactics) actually create the problems to which they may have the answer?
The second half turned into an almost whodunnit Hitchcockian (is that a word?) thriller, the conclusion of which was a little disappointing for me. Not so much in that it didn't answer the questions raised which does not bother me. It was the plot itself that jarred.
I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Cracking performances from the two leads and brilliant casting. Rooney Mara is totally believable as the precious, damaged girl. Jude Law plays this to perfection with a subtle smug arrogance. A timely reminder of how good he can actually be. Casting a Brit in this role was a masterstroke highlighting the disparity between healthcare approaches on the different sides of the pond.
In the end, there was no-one you were rooting for...all of them were pretty despicable in their own way. And I guess that was the point.
The film was constructed masterfully and looked great.
7/10
Good review. One thing that was handled really well in this movie was how it can be suspenseful and intense while just being a dialogue-driven film. The dialogue was really well written and it did a really good job of keeping me invested in the story.
ReplyDeletesimilar thought to you DM - the change of tone was initially a bit odd but then you just had to go with it. Overall fluffy and forgettable - there might have been a more interesting movie in their somewhere.
ReplyDelete5/10