Answers to Nothing
The idea behind the plot ("intertwining stories exploring the bad in the best of us and the good in the worst of") isn't original, but that's not the problem.
The execution is the problem.
Starting with how weak some of the connections between the characters and their stories are.
I couldn't get myself to care for most of them and their personal (melo)drama. Be it because several plotlines relied on clichés (the silent, everyday-man who never speaks up for himself and can feel a hero only while playing videogames online, but finally stands up for a good cause) or were approached so, so superficially (like with Allegra, a young black woman who hates black people as a reflection of her own self-loathing) that they came off as weird instead of intriguing.
Kate's (Elizabeth Mitchell's character) storyline sees her as a woman desperate to get pregnant and become a mother. So desperate that she will overlook her husband's infidelity as long as she believes he shares the same dream of parenthood, or at least is willing to help her achieve it.
What REALLY turned me off the whole thing is the way the journey of Kate and Ryan (her cheating husband) was resolved. Won't spoil all the details about the how, but in the end he leaves his mistress without a word of explanation, and goes back home to Kate. Why? Because 'kindness and lies are worth a thousand truths'.
That gem of a motto is thrown at you in such an underwhelming way, that it only makes for an underwhelming conclusion of the plotline. Again, I don't have much of a problem with the "message" (you can have interesting character arcs without redemptive twists, and the purpose here was to explore the world of denial and the inability to love of Kate and Ryan, respectively) but it left me completely blank in the way it was delivered.
There was only one/two Kate scenes that I truly liked, actually.
Also not helping this movie? The dialogue ('This is not a fucking job, it, like a looking glass into the soul of this world.' - ...I can't) and Julie Benz doing a bad, bad job with her role and making it very hard to buy her as a detective in almost all the scenes.
Now that I've got all my main criticism out of the way, I will add that I didn't dislike *everything*. The cinematography was nice (not that I'm an expert or anything, but) and there is a twist concerning one of the character stories that I didn't see coming at all, and - while not mind-blowing/original - worked very well on-screen. And JB aside, the acting is ok (Miranda Bailey was great, imo).
So. Maybe you have watched it and loved it, or will like it a lot when you do, but for what is worth my recommendation is to go into the movie without big expectations (if you, like me, only want to watch it for Elizabeth Mitchell, then you'll be fine - you can ignore the plot and enjoy her face, lol).
Changing the subject completely - I'm always terrible at anything blogging, and most of all, I'm incredibly inconsistent with my comments and activity around here, so what I'm typing next is a long overdue thank-you note I should've posted somewhere else ages ago.
This is for all the people involved with lost_land: I had a blast, I really had. The competition ended at the right time because it had lost quite some steam, but I was still a bit sad because I loved everything about it, and I have so many good memories of the fun I experienced and the people met over there. I won't forget any of it.
Thanks to everyone who worked to set it up, organize the activities, lead each team, keep the game alive. And to my fellow hippies at Team Dharma - I want to squish you all in a (polar) bear hug.
The execution is the problem.
Starting with how weak some of the connections between the characters and their stories are.
I couldn't get myself to care for most of them and their personal (melo)drama. Be it because several plotlines relied on clichés (the silent, everyday-man who never speaks up for himself and can feel a hero only while playing videogames online, but finally stands up for a good cause) or were approached so, so superficially (like with Allegra, a young black woman who hates black people as a reflection of her own self-loathing) that they came off as weird instead of intriguing.
Kate's (Elizabeth Mitchell's character) storyline sees her as a woman desperate to get pregnant and become a mother. So desperate that she will overlook her husband's infidelity as long as she believes he shares the same dream of parenthood, or at least is willing to help her achieve it.
What REALLY turned me off the whole thing is the way the journey of Kate and Ryan (her cheating husband) was resolved. Won't spoil all the details about the how, but in the end he leaves his mistress without a word of explanation, and goes back home to Kate. Why? Because 'kindness and lies are worth a thousand truths'.
That gem of a motto is thrown at you in such an underwhelming way, that it only makes for an underwhelming conclusion of the plotline. Again, I don't have much of a problem with the "message" (you can have interesting character arcs without redemptive twists, and the purpose here was to explore the world of denial and the inability to love of Kate and Ryan, respectively) but it left me completely blank in the way it was delivered.
There was only one/two Kate scenes that I truly liked, actually.
Also not helping this movie? The dialogue ('This is not a fucking job, it, like a looking glass into the soul of this world.' - ...I can't) and Julie Benz doing a bad, bad job with her role and making it very hard to buy her as a detective in almost all the scenes.
Now that I've got all my main criticism out of the way, I will add that I didn't dislike *everything*. The cinematography was nice (not that I'm an expert or anything, but) and there is a twist concerning one of the character stories that I didn't see coming at all, and - while not mind-blowing/original - worked very well on-screen. And JB aside, the acting is ok (Miranda Bailey was great, imo).
So. Maybe you have watched it and loved it, or will like it a lot when you do, but for what is worth my recommendation is to go into the movie without big expectations (if you, like me, only want to watch it for Elizabeth Mitchell, then you'll be fine - you can ignore the plot and enjoy her face, lol).
Changing the subject completely - I'm always terrible at anything blogging, and most of all, I'm incredibly inconsistent with my comments and activity around here, so what I'm typing next is a long overdue thank-you note I should've posted somewhere else ages ago.
This is for all the people involved with lost_land: I had a blast, I really had. The competition ended at the right time because it had lost quite some steam, but I was still a bit sad because I loved everything about it, and I have so many good memories of the fun I experienced and the people met over there. I won't forget any of it.
Thanks to everyone who worked to set it up, organize the activities, lead each team, keep the game alive. And to my fellow hippies at Team Dharma - I want to squish you all in a (polar) bear hug.