lynseytate Reviews

Equilibrium (2002)

What A Surprise

[9/10 · 19 July 2011]

I'm not a fan of action movies, but I loved the fight sequences in "Equilibrium" - they're beautifully choreographed and the characters are so smartly costumed its a visual treat. I'm indifferent to romance in movies, probably because its done so often and so very badly, but the superbly portrayed sexual and romantic tension between Bale's and Watson's characters is surprisingly believable and totally hot. I generally cannot stand the lone-hero-fighting-dystopia theme because it's so overdone, lacks credibility and usually ends depressingly badly, but "Equilibrium" is so well-acted and beautifully filmed that I forgot to hate it.

Did I mention the acting is wonderful? I know there wasn't enough blandness in some of the characters who are supposed to be drugging all of the emotion out of themselves, but that just seems to remind that you can't drug all the emotion out of a human; it's a point of optimism in a theme that usually has a depressing effect. I think it's also another symbol of incipient corruption in this society that the characters that seem to be least drugged into social acceptability are the ones who are in charge or are enforcing the rules on everyone else. This dystopia clearly contains the seeds of it's own destruction. Contrasted with other film dystopias, this one looks more doomed than insurmountable, inevitable and crushing to the human spirit.

I know the plot-line and actions of minor characters sometimes stretch belief, but this film actually makes your suspension of disbelief worth it. I know the concepts and philosophy here are far from new, but although I highly value original thought and philosophy, I enjoyed the pure emotional impact of this movie so much I was left thinking "who cares"?

"Equilibrium" is so well-made that it leaves me reflecting that a constant diet of badly done formula entertainment will have an effect on the human mind as inhibiting as most other drugs - so is it so far-fetched that people in this dystopia get up every morning and voluntarily drug the emotion clean out of themselves with a chemical dose?

The Joneses (2009)

Who's the real patsy?

[5/10 · 29 June 2011]

I like the general premise of this movie, that people regularly allow their behavior to be controlled by market forces no matter how unscrupulous and exploitative those forces are. Directly exploring the idea that we all too easily allow greed-driven marketers to manipulate us into spending large amounts of money - which we often cannot afford, as exemplified by the eventual fate of the next-door neighbor - is laudable and this film does not completely miss the mark on that point. However, when one of the characters gets a new car in which the make of the car is so blatantly showcased by name and visually, and several characters are fawning over the car, I began to wonder just which group of oblivious innocents was really being sold a bill of marketing goods: the neighbors via the plot, or we the audience via yet another movie become multiple ads?

The acting is good, the script is weak and the plot is an interesting idea but not developed very well and is not believable at all. There seem to be many practical and even legal difficulties:

1. Is it really financially feasible to outlay the expenditure required to establish this affluent fake family, to justify increasing the spending habits of the people they come into contact with?

2. Can the marketing corporation really track the success of individual members of the fake family well enough even to know specifically which family member has caused increased spending in specific industries? (Mom is the only one who increases spending in make-up, Dad is the only one who influences sporting goods sales, Son is the only one who influences video-game sales, etc? Please.)

3. Are the family members who are posing as high-school students really high-school aged? If they are I would think there are all kinds of labor laws being broken and numerous other legal problems, and if not then having an overage person enrolled in a high school and under a necessarily false identity is probably illegal in every state also. Either way, the likely prospect of sexual activity between the fake kids and the minors they encounter, which seems to be encouraged by the marketing company they work for (the visiting supervisor pushes them to establish boyfriend/girlfriend relationships) is a major legal stumbling block.

4. Can fake family units really be set up over and again with the necessary secrecy maintained? It seems a tactic destined to be exposed eventually, and to cause a lot of damage to the marketing company involved and the products they promote.

This is far too much disbelief to suspend. Even movie audiences have limits to our gullibility.

Finishing the Game (2007)

You don't have to be a martial arts fan

[8/10 · 15 June 2011]

I am not a particular fan of the martial arts genre or a Bruce Lee idolizer, but I absolutely loved this movie. The fact that it is billed as a comedy and is actually funny, and this one is very funny, underscored for me its subtle ridicule of Hollywood, their formula films and the entire assembly-line style of film making. Hollywood seems to treat Comedy as the Miscellaneous category - if you can't categorize it as a drama, a documentary, suspense, horror, action or history, then it must be a comedy. This one is genuinely funny, instead of yet another billed "comedy" that's really just one more money-grubber's yawn fest.

This is also a wonderful but gentle poke at the entire 70's style of film and television, re-creating the tasteless idiocy of that decade's mainstream entertainment offerings, but in a manner that remains nostalgic, affectionate and respectful - like having an old hound dog that stinks just a bit and slobbers all over everyone but we still love him anyway.

If you enjoy the Christopher Guest parody movies (I don't; I respect the effort but it's just not easy to get a laugh out of me - yet this movie got plenty) I think you will find this well worth seeing. Even the nudity is so blatantly gratuitous it qualifies as parody.

If you're fed up with the standard crappy focus-group-oriented film-by-formula usually offered, you'll like this movie. If you want a good laugh, you'll like this movie. If you have a pulse and a sense of humor, you'll like this movie.