Rating of
2/4
Could've Been More
Franz Patrick - wrote on 09/14/08
This is not a feel-good movie but that doesn’t make it a bad movie. Even though it may be very heavy-handed on the drama, it managed to have some sort of focus on the story. Set mostly in the winter and shot in areas where there are no bright colors, the tone is depressing and at times a bit claustrophobic. Still, the performances here are pretty good: Charlize Theron is the mother who doesn’t know how to be one because she gets distracted by life’s circumstances, Nick Stahl is the symptathetic brother who sees himself as a failure so he tries hard to pick up his sister’s responsibilities–something he could be successful at, and Dennis Hopper as the father who was way too hard on his children and his past actions catch up to him. Not a lot of things happen in this movie because the film’s purpose was to observe. Still, it could have been much more powerful if Theron has been on screen more and if the picture had more comedic moments that serve as a hint of sunlight amidst all the darkness. By the end of the movie, the tone was more bitter than bittersweet because the characters are still trapped, despite the actions they have taken to try to break free from their own prisons.
