Tshiamo#Oriel

Taken from Hannah G. 3 years ago Despite everything, I do applaud this movie for two things: Drawing attention to the issue of guardianship abuse, and the acting of Rosamund Pike and Peter Dinklage. It‘s not their fault the characters and script they were given to work with were terrible. HOWEVER. This movie was still terrible. Where do I begin? About halfway, we just wanted it to be over. The character Marla is drugged, kidnapped, tied up at a remote dump and tortured by the mob... and then proceeds to sassily demand things from the mob, completely unfraid. At this point, I turned to my friend and said „Oh, I get it now, this woman isn‘t just an evil sociopath, she‘s actually insane.“ And then for the rest of the movie, except for the last 2min or so, she just gets everything her way? What completely illogical BS. The mob would have just tortured this woman until she spilled the beans on the diamonds, then shot her in the head and burned the body. Or something like that. I get it, then the movie would have been over after 50min. But don‘t write involvement with the mob into your movie, if you reduce the mob to useless, wimpy, toothless sacks. The audience is not stupid, we see the million plotholes and we do not appreciate them. Another point that I have a special dislike for is the total misrepresentation of feminism. Many conflicts in the movie were depicted as gendered, even though the situation had absolutely nothing to do with gender. Ooh, the mob is evil, so their lawyer must be sexist. No. Marla being a successful (albeit corrupt) businesswoman and lesbian is not the reason other people and the audience hate her, it‘s because she‘s a hateful leech. The worst part, though, is that the movie sets up expectations that go nowhere. There is no satisfying payoff at any point. Two prime examples come to mind: The old lady telling Marla „Who am I? I‘m the worst mistake you‘ve ever made“. Then later, it turns out that apparently it‘s the best, or in the long run, at least the most profitable decision she‘s ever made. Also, the most frustrating part was Marla‘s constant insistence on being a „lioness“. She‘s not defeating anyone in any semblance of a fair challenge. Even when talking to the mob, she demands they face her in court... where she holds all the cards. She‘s not a force to be reckoned with as much as she is someone who is handed all the cards. She doesn‘t hunt, she just kicks people who are already down. Her Ego is beyond over-inflated, I really don‘t get where all this bravado has come from. Exploiting the weak doesn‘t take strength.