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babsyfortyfive
Reviews
Sunset Song (2015)
A film with no soul.
What a dreadful film, underpinned by Agyness Deyn's truly appalling accent. She only had one facial expression, and that was static. The film was episodic, with the episodes seeming to be scenes that were happening while the real action was taking place in another world. I struggle to think how people who don't know the story will have made any sense at all of this drivel. The entire cast of characters seemed to hail from Glasgow except in the main character's case, who seemed to be from everywhere except Scotland, far less the north-east. Please, if you go to see this film, pretend it's about a mythical country peopled by one- dimensional characters. Don't imagine it has any connection with Scotland. It doesn't. It is woeful and, at 2hr 15 minutes, at least two hours too long.
Blue Jasmine (2013)
Cliché upon cliché
This film never moves beyond the trailer. Everything you need to know about the characters and plot is there, with no development of either in the film whatsoever. Someone has a drink problem? Put a glass or bottle in their hands at every opportunity. A nervous illness? Have them twitch and shiver.
Or better still, point the camera at an otherwise excellent actress and rely completely on her to carry the film. She can't. Cate Blanchett has nowhere to go with this one-dimensional role and the other actors don't fare much better.
There are certainly elements of 'Streetcar', with the Blanche character having delusions of grandeur and the Stella and Stanley Kowalski-esque characters offering a workers-are-the-salt- of-the-earth contrast. However, Woody Allen has pounded them into caricatures with his clear belief that his name will fool everyone into believing a film has credibility.
Not this viewer. I can see the Emperor has no clothes.