(Only slight spoilers here)
I gave this movie a try and it almost lost me right at the beginning. You can see right away it is obviously pretty low budget in a bad way. Here you are at this strange rather poor opening scene where it kind of looks like some kind of group of druggies, and wondering what as this at all to do with Marlon Brando. It turns out to be Christen Brando. Okay now I get it..
And then Damian Chapa is on the scene which under the context took a while to realize he was supposed to be the young Brando. Now I've seen Damian in a several movies over the years and seems overall to be a pretty good and charismatic actor. But it threw me off here as if you ever seen any photos of young Brando he was in excellent shape at least partially due to the fact that he was doing a lot of manual labor jobs at the time. No offense but Damian Chapa should have probably lost around 30lbs for the role. And, or, maybe better makeup, hairstyling, etc., would have made the fit more. Chapa certainly looks like Brando anyhow.
I gave it a little more time and despite the bad acting (supporting actors, not Chapa) and some bad contextual moments, like the few NY scenes that were obviously modern day and not the 50's, I got drawn into it and watched the whole thing.
Like a lot of such dramatic biographies it centers a lot around sensationalism and focuses on negative/bad aspects a lot. It would be nice if such biographies highlighted more of a positive side, the things that make these artists stand out in their world class talents, etc. Something he (Brando) did made him stand out as one of the best and most memorable actors of all time. Be nice if it were more wins rather then all the trials and tribulations shown. Better for more ups, then downs. But then maybe it makes less of an interesting movie for many with out all these sordid bits.
In the end I found it to be pretty interesting and entertaining overall. If you are in the mood for some old fashioned gossipy drama give it a shot!
I gave this movie a try and it almost lost me right at the beginning. You can see right away it is obviously pretty low budget in a bad way. Here you are at this strange rather poor opening scene where it kind of looks like some kind of group of druggies, and wondering what as this at all to do with Marlon Brando. It turns out to be Christen Brando. Okay now I get it..
And then Damian Chapa is on the scene which under the context took a while to realize he was supposed to be the young Brando. Now I've seen Damian in a several movies over the years and seems overall to be a pretty good and charismatic actor. But it threw me off here as if you ever seen any photos of young Brando he was in excellent shape at least partially due to the fact that he was doing a lot of manual labor jobs at the time. No offense but Damian Chapa should have probably lost around 30lbs for the role. And, or, maybe better makeup, hairstyling, etc., would have made the fit more. Chapa certainly looks like Brando anyhow.
I gave it a little more time and despite the bad acting (supporting actors, not Chapa) and some bad contextual moments, like the few NY scenes that were obviously modern day and not the 50's, I got drawn into it and watched the whole thing.
Like a lot of such dramatic biographies it centers a lot around sensationalism and focuses on negative/bad aspects a lot. It would be nice if such biographies highlighted more of a positive side, the things that make these artists stand out in their world class talents, etc. Something he (Brando) did made him stand out as one of the best and most memorable actors of all time. Be nice if it were more wins rather then all the trials and tribulations shown. Better for more ups, then downs. But then maybe it makes less of an interesting movie for many with out all these sordid bits.
In the end I found it to be pretty interesting and entertaining overall. If you are in the mood for some old fashioned gossipy drama give it a shot!