How do you say "chick flick" in Russian? Doesn't matter, because this film fails even by chick- flick standards.
It currently stands at 5.8/10 on the main Russian movie review site (their version of IMDb), buoyed by teenage girls perhaps or Danila Kozlovsky fangirls, but I'm not feeling that generous.
I would rate this film at zero for entertainment factor, but that's harsh. This film is not terrible, it's not a disaster, it's just really not good. It's in that no-man's land between a bad movie and a mediocre one that is barely worth watching.
The biggest problem here is the script. The script, oh, the script. Screen writing is an art best left for professionals. And so is directing. And so is editing. I won't say that Pavel Ruminov is not a professional, but he certainly should not be making films where he is all three, screenwriter, director and editor. It is said that the only thing worse than having a bunch of yes-men to high-five every stupid decision you make is to have yourself as your own yes-man in every position.
A director already has a lot of power and influence and can make a bad script into something acceptable. An editor has less power, but can still try to salvage something out of a dud. When a bad idea goes from napkin to screenplay to RAW to the editing suite all in the hands of one man, there is no hope for this film.
For example, Nikita (the main guy) does a Robert De Niro impression at the start of the film. You get a few chuckles. This is repeated once more and again and again and again. Way too many times. Smart scripts are like magic tricks. They show you something, then it's gone, then it comes back at the end in a dramatic moment. You can't keep pulling a rabbit out of a hat over and over and over for 90 minutes.
Everything here is a cliché, from the girl to the protagonist, to his best friend. The soundtrack of the film is not great and the songs (that characters play) are quite bad. Danila is attractive, but I'm not buying his acting or personality. His charm feels like an act and his depression feels insincere, exaggerated and staged. More of a "look at me, I'm depressed" than a real depression. Someone who goes on a depressed drinking spree starting at the liquor and going to work drunk would have something more than a 1.5 - 2 day stubble. These tiny oversights are not me nit-picking, it just shows you the lack of attention paid to details. I won't list all of them because it's not worth it. Needless to say, Danila has a stubble at the start of the film, then he meets the girl and has the same amount of facial hair, then they break up and he has the same amount of facial hair, despite him being super ultra depressed.
They're selling Danila's pretty face rather than a story. It's all shallow and flat. His best friend is a pale, geeky-looking, shorter man with early-onset male pattern baldness, not really a bad looking dude, but someone there so that we don't take our eyes of Danila. He is less of a character and more a sidekick. He's there to sit there and support Danila's story, listen to him whine and watch him do De Niro impressions over and over.
Whatever.
The only things worth seeing in this film are the montages, which were a nice way to show the passage of time or tell a lot of things without taking a lot of time. This is something that other filmmakers should learn. This film does that to a nice effect. The cinematography is also top notch. I was surprised by how good it was, considering that many Russian non-art films have awful TV-like cinematography. This film actually has a colorist, camera movement, depth of field, smart lighting, camera angles, light parts, dark parts, did I say realistic lighting? Day looks like day, night looks like night, homes look like homes, malls look like malls. It's not all one florescent show.
All in all, this film was made for money first and foremost, but it doesn't deserve any of your money or your time.
It currently stands at 5.8/10 on the main Russian movie review site (their version of IMDb), buoyed by teenage girls perhaps or Danila Kozlovsky fangirls, but I'm not feeling that generous.
I would rate this film at zero for entertainment factor, but that's harsh. This film is not terrible, it's not a disaster, it's just really not good. It's in that no-man's land between a bad movie and a mediocre one that is barely worth watching.
The biggest problem here is the script. The script, oh, the script. Screen writing is an art best left for professionals. And so is directing. And so is editing. I won't say that Pavel Ruminov is not a professional, but he certainly should not be making films where he is all three, screenwriter, director and editor. It is said that the only thing worse than having a bunch of yes-men to high-five every stupid decision you make is to have yourself as your own yes-man in every position.
A director already has a lot of power and influence and can make a bad script into something acceptable. An editor has less power, but can still try to salvage something out of a dud. When a bad idea goes from napkin to screenplay to RAW to the editing suite all in the hands of one man, there is no hope for this film.
For example, Nikita (the main guy) does a Robert De Niro impression at the start of the film. You get a few chuckles. This is repeated once more and again and again and again. Way too many times. Smart scripts are like magic tricks. They show you something, then it's gone, then it comes back at the end in a dramatic moment. You can't keep pulling a rabbit out of a hat over and over and over for 90 minutes.
Everything here is a cliché, from the girl to the protagonist, to his best friend. The soundtrack of the film is not great and the songs (that characters play) are quite bad. Danila is attractive, but I'm not buying his acting or personality. His charm feels like an act and his depression feels insincere, exaggerated and staged. More of a "look at me, I'm depressed" than a real depression. Someone who goes on a depressed drinking spree starting at the liquor and going to work drunk would have something more than a 1.5 - 2 day stubble. These tiny oversights are not me nit-picking, it just shows you the lack of attention paid to details. I won't list all of them because it's not worth it. Needless to say, Danila has a stubble at the start of the film, then he meets the girl and has the same amount of facial hair, then they break up and he has the same amount of facial hair, despite him being super ultra depressed.
They're selling Danila's pretty face rather than a story. It's all shallow and flat. His best friend is a pale, geeky-looking, shorter man with early-onset male pattern baldness, not really a bad looking dude, but someone there so that we don't take our eyes of Danila. He is less of a character and more a sidekick. He's there to sit there and support Danila's story, listen to him whine and watch him do De Niro impressions over and over.
Whatever.
The only things worth seeing in this film are the montages, which were a nice way to show the passage of time or tell a lot of things without taking a lot of time. This is something that other filmmakers should learn. This film does that to a nice effect. The cinematography is also top notch. I was surprised by how good it was, considering that many Russian non-art films have awful TV-like cinematography. This film actually has a colorist, camera movement, depth of field, smart lighting, camera angles, light parts, dark parts, did I say realistic lighting? Day looks like day, night looks like night, homes look like homes, malls look like malls. It's not all one florescent show.
All in all, this film was made for money first and foremost, but it doesn't deserve any of your money or your time.
