Bob Reitano

First of all, one lousy title. The friends , Bill and Naomi rarely strike an important connection. The problem really is in the Murray character who actually is just Bill reading his lines on his day off.. Bill Murray except when he’s doing a comedy pretty much thinks he can get away with just being Bill Murray. This one required searching for something more and not only was it not searched for, but clearly it was never found. As a result, Naomi is left with nothing to work against except a dog who is badly badly miscast. When we meet the dog, and I guess Great Danes are just not the cuddly kind, the dog is about as indifferent to everyone around as any animal could be. Clearly the dog is well trained, and it does what it’s supposed to do, but when we see the dog with the Bill Murray character, there is no connection. There is no love. There is no physical involvement with one and the other. And the same is true once the dog is adopted. The dog never becomes the friend. The dog is just the object. And that may very well have been a better title for the film, The Object, The Prop. There is something significant in the relationship between friends who commit suicide. But the investigation here is mystifying and confused. In the end, we don’t know why he did it. In the end, we don’t know why he left the dog to her. In the end, we don’t know why he didn’t tell her about it. In the end, we don’t know very much. Except that Naomi Watts got really short changed here by two incompetent storytellers

Seasons one and two were effective. Season three was treading water. Season four is an improvised disaster. Each character waits a second or two to be certain the other character has finished talking. Each speaker says the same meaningless things over and over hoping to find something meaningful to say. This is why in the craft of drama there are writers. There is a scene under a buffet table where twenty or so adults and one child play a game of what are you afraid of. Clearly improvised, each character searches for something meaningful. No one finds it. spiders? Heights? The kid says dancing, which we already knew. This is drama? In a kitchen scene, to prove that Carly was at his brother’s funeral, a man asks him, “ what was I wearing? You think guys remember that stuff? No way! Tripe. Please no season five!

Okay. OK. This film is a indulgent, long winded, unedited, confusing piece of junk. The biggest joke in it all, and it struck me from the very beginning is the choice of the fictional name of the main character. Lazlo Toth in real life was the person who took a hammer to the Pieta in Rome in the 1970s. He attempted to destroy one of the most significant works of art in western civilization. Why in the name of all that’s holy would you give your primary character the same name as a person who is so so so so destructive. It’s because this film is really a stick in the eye to people who think that films are about something significant when indeed all they are is a drone on and on and on. None of the architecture is shown. None of the suffering is justified. Brody goes on and on with the same damn heroine afflicted note that eventually just drives you to… Slumber. This is not a film. This is a self indulgence poke in the eye. This is a laugh in your face. This is a jokes on you buddy. Give me a break. What is brutalism? brutalism is what you feel when you sit and watch this endless drowning film. Good grief!!! Get me an editor. Get me a writer. Get me a double martini.

Filmmaking as brilliant as any I’ve seen. As brilliant as 13, a documentary of a few years ago ago. Breathtaking command of storytelling skills. Breathtaking

Brilliant. Stunningly brilliant. At times it feels unscripted. It is that brilliantly real. Nickel Boys and Sing Sing are two important films. Really impressive.

It helps if you are either brain damaged or demented when you sit through this silly illogical film. My mantra while watching was why am I watching this illogical claptrap. How in the name of all that’s holy can the protagonist’s imaginary older self engage her present day boyfriend? And hug him for such a weird long time without him becoming uncomfortable? Yuck. Gag me with an imaginary spoon.

A beautiful brilliantly performed film. Two performances are brilliant in their ease and subtlety.

I reviewed this movie earlier today and you took my review down. It contained no profanity or ethnic slurs. Why was it removed?

This is not an ordinary film. It requires patience and a sense of absolute absurdity.

Amateur from start to middle. There is no end.