Elina Konikova

Maybe I was in the wrong state of mind when I tried to watch this but I tuned out after the first 35 mins scrolling on my phone and eventually turned it off as background noise because the yammering dialogues were too much. I have a vast attention span for indie, out of the box and all types of big budget movies but this just didn't work. The slightly dark comedy felt forced. After the heist scenes and therapist character being brought in honestly it just felt like a B movie script with B rated acting and plot. Didn't care what happened to these characters and agree Casey Affleck is a bona fide star in his own right with solid screen presence but the thing with movies is all the pieces have to come together and either it works or it doesn't. For me this one did not.

Unlike others I found the camera work excessive and the film didn't quite live up to what it could have been with the fantastic Wilem Dafoe in the lead. The lens and camera effects felt like a gimmicky ploy in order to cover up for the superficially told story and unfocused dialogue. The scene with the priest was probably the best part of the film for me; in that exchange I got more of a glimpse into Van Gogh than most parts of the film. I get that Schnabel, a great painter in his own right was sprinkling the movie with visual eye candy but the shooting locations and richness of his subject were enough on their own to make this film compelling and stick in your mind. A wasted opportunity but makes me want to read more about his biography beyond the brilliant/tortured artist trope.