Before I watched this, I had just assumed that I wouldn't be able to 'get into' the plot, but surprisingly, after a few minutes I kind of found myself able to go with it.
That's not to say that I didn't have any problems with the movie though... No, there were definitely some things that I wasn't keen on. For one, while I don't have a problem with the film taking a swipe at sour, cynical critics (in fact, I quite like the idea), I do think that whole subplot was brought down slightly by the painfully unsubtle writing. Even though I actually agree with the message they're trying to put across, having characters just stare at the screen and say it out loud feels kind of... unsatisfying.
It's not just the movie critic part that had that issue either, there were a few other patches where the dialogue felt more like it was very artificial, rather than something that was true to the story.
And as a final negative, I'll never be able to not wince at the idea of a director casting themselves as a visionary whose book about social issues will change the world and inspire the future president. Like, I actually really enjoyed what they did with Shyamalan's character, and I do like him as a director, but oh my...
Apart from that though, there were quite a few positives. Firstly, I loved all the stuff about wanting to believe in fairytales and regaining the pure trust and belief we have as children; it was very sincere. And like I said before, I really was happy to buy into the story after a while, especially as more and more of the characters start to get involved and the film develops into a tale of a small community coming together to help someone, even if they've only just met them, which was actually quite lovely.
I also think it was a particularly good idea to keep things to the one location of the apartment building, since it felt like we really got to know the place and the people in it; it seemed personal.
On top of that, I really enjoyed the ending scene. In those final few shots looking up from the water as the music came through, it was very peaceful.
As a last note, even if I had a few problems with the movie, it definitely gave me a lot of points to talk about. No matter how 'good' or 'bad', I always have a sort of fondness for films that actually get me to think about them!
Maybe a Narf unlocked my thought-waves like she did to Shyamalan's character...
That's not to say that I didn't have any problems with the movie though... No, there were definitely some things that I wasn't keen on. For one, while I don't have a problem with the film taking a swipe at sour, cynical critics (in fact, I quite like the idea), I do think that whole subplot was brought down slightly by the painfully unsubtle writing. Even though I actually agree with the message they're trying to put across, having characters just stare at the screen and say it out loud feels kind of... unsatisfying.
It's not just the movie critic part that had that issue either, there were a few other patches where the dialogue felt more like it was very artificial, rather than something that was true to the story.
And as a final negative, I'll never be able to not wince at the idea of a director casting themselves as a visionary whose book about social issues will change the world and inspire the future president. Like, I actually really enjoyed what they did with Shyamalan's character, and I do like him as a director, but oh my...
Apart from that though, there were quite a few positives. Firstly, I loved all the stuff about wanting to believe in fairytales and regaining the pure trust and belief we have as children; it was very sincere. And like I said before, I really was happy to buy into the story after a while, especially as more and more of the characters start to get involved and the film develops into a tale of a small community coming together to help someone, even if they've only just met them, which was actually quite lovely.
I also think it was a particularly good idea to keep things to the one location of the apartment building, since it felt like we really got to know the place and the people in it; it seemed personal.
On top of that, I really enjoyed the ending scene. In those final few shots looking up from the water as the music came through, it was very peaceful.
As a last note, even if I had a few problems with the movie, it definitely gave me a lot of points to talk about. No matter how 'good' or 'bad', I always have a sort of fondness for films that actually get me to think about them!
Maybe a Narf unlocked my thought-waves like she did to Shyamalan's character...