Joseph Gorodnitskiy

This film really challenges my criteria for what makes a 10/10. It does this because I failed to see any meaning in it but yet this bizarre sequence of events provided one of the most engaging and unique experiences I have ever had digesting a story. The ending, which I am not completely confident I interpreted incorrectly, evoked the most goosebumps I’ve ever had.

I didn’t enjoy this film as much as others did. While it does contain a few very compelling aspects such as, a great visual art style, flawless performances, casting and philosophical depth. It falls short on its writing; specifically it’s pacing. The film depicts essentially all the major plot points as the book, but it does so in such quick succession that it detracts from conveying an active understanding of its conceptual purpose. In the book the entire third act was supposed to subvert the audiences expectations from the norms of a contemporary western thriller. It does this because it has fifty pages in that third act to cement this effect. In the film however, there is one scene from the third act of the book and then the movie just ends in a very abrupt manner. Another example would be how after the very slow beginning, the 2nd act moves so quickly and stays so closely to the source material that it is almost as if it is making a montage of the events from the book. It is truly a shame because the visual aspect was entirely consistent with my artistic preferences but the pacing was just unforgivable. But that’s not to say I don’t recommend this film because I definitely do. It is brilliant in every aspect but having read the book first I feel the pacing of the film was jarring.

The art style in this film is precisely what I desire from any and that alone would make this a ten. However there is certainly a level of profundity present as well, as I believe Paul Schrader’s script and Martin Scorsese’s directing provided the best visual description of loneliness and an intrinsic detachment from reality that I have ever seen. Not to mention the classic soundtrack by Bernard Herrmann and the amazing performance from Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster and the mesmerizing cinematography by Fred Schuler. Though in the interest of honesty I do think this film has aged poorly in a few ways. Plenty of scenes go on to long and the pacing specifically in the middle gets harmed by this. Though the reasons I mentioned above are still enough to make this one of my all time favorite movies.

So many unnecessary action scenes and over dramatic performances. Very cliche thriller in many many many ways. They are in a dream in a dream in a dream and the only way to convey a sense of physical conflict is to show people with guns shooting? Genius idea and premise. If not for the ending I would say this movie is terrible with the paper thin characters.

Mesmerizing. Thought provoking. Flawless from first moment to last. Guess I have to add another film to my 10/10 list. (Btw I read the short story the movie was based on prior to watching the film and I thought the short story by Ted Chiang barely scratched the surface for the potential profundity that the story was capable of) 5 stars!

This is my favorite thriller of all time! The most common objection to this film is that it is conceptually unnecessary, but that premise is contingent on the idea that breaking bad was exclusively Walters story. And while that is true to a degree, I would say Jesse was the protagonist along side Walter. And so Jesse story being unresolved in Felina is potentially a flaw. This film possesses the same thematically sophisticated directing style from Gilligan and each flashback narratively reflects Jesses current mental and the physical position in the story. I love this movie because it provided and suspenseful and beautiful ending to my favorite character from my favorite show. 5 stars!