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Forum namePass The Popcorn
Topic subjectHonestly, it's not entirely without merit.
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=6&topic_id=637075&mesg_id=657428
657428, Honestly, it's not entirely without merit.
Posted by Frank Longo, Mon Aug-05-13 03:51 PM
I thought some scenes worked, and certainly Lohan was good in the cast. I could even argue that Deen is sort of the essential Bret Easton Ellis leading man, though I think Schrader and Ellis clash stylistically.

The problem is how stilted the film is, and maybe that goes back to the aforementioned stylistic clash. BEE wants to film to exist in a world totally without morals, and Schrader loves to moralize. For every scene where it kind of perfectly captures the vapid LA world, there's another with abysmally earnest acting or an attempt to create sincere suspense. When Deen at the end (spoiler) becomes murderous, it's hard to figure out: is this strictly metaphorical? Is it character study? Is this turn supposed to mean something, or is its lack of meaning the point? If that's the case, why so many scenes of attempted sincerity, why not stick to the BEE nihilistic empty guns?

The stilted execution wore on me, so by the end (when we're getting less Lohan, among other problems), I wanted it to be over.

Still, I liked some scenes. The opening dinner scene strikes the Ellis tone nicely (before the damned plot arrives), the casual handling of sex was intriguing, and the four-way was actually pretty great until Ellis added a scene afterwards in which Deen explains outright how he felt about the four-way.