John Cameron Mitchell's film version of David Lindsay-Abaire's award winning play is the very definition of Oscar Bait. It's a film that was designed to get Nicole Kidman another Oscar.
The film follows a couple in the wake of the death of their four year old son. She is trying to cope by erasing any trace of him. He's fumbling about just trying to connect with his wife who seems to be a stranger. Complications arise as her sister reveals that she is pregnant. She also begins a relationship with the young man who killed her son.
Strong on performances the film doesn't have much beyond that. Director John Cameron Mitchell's direction is workman like but isn't all that creative. the film feels like any number of small budget independent films. While this isn't surprising considering that Mitchell turned out two good small films (Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Shortbus) previously. Unfortunately while those films, like this one were good, there was nothing to set them apart from any other independent film except perhaps the subject matter or stars.
This isn't a bad film, but its very much like any number of other better films and other than the big stars and Oscar push this film would rightly fall into the cracks. I'm guessing that once award season is over this film will quickly disappear, especially if it doesn't win any Oscars.
Worth a look, but not something you need run out to see.
No comments:
Post a Comment