Psyche Tree

I watched this film because I always loved Taxi Driver, and a review in the Guardian was positive; however, though comparisons to Taxi Driver have been made, this film's nowhere near as good. Above all the acting is bad. It's corny at times. The script's a little wooden and I wonder if Shrader hasn't underestimated the sophistication level of modern audiences because occasionally there were 'show don't tell' moments which lurched forward awkwardly to wreck suspension of disbelief. And apart from those, there was a ton of 'telling not showing.' In Taxi Driver, the same device of the main character writing a journal is used, with voice-over monologues, but in Taxi Driver it worked so much better because Travis is a believable character with real depth. I also wondered if this was pitched at an audience of young male macho wanabees, the kind who get attracted to the idea of becoming a card shark king pin. I wonder if Schrader's lazy, just coasting on his reputation, because the filmscript he made for the film with Nic Cage a while back was even worse again, like he just needed to top up his bank account and so decided he'd knock up another script. Having said all that, visually this film isn't bad. Some weird calls though, like the scene by the pool with extras planted in the background (again so unnatural it wrecks suspension of disbelief), and the decision to have the climactic moment happen in another room (descent into comical bizareness). I won't be a spoiler but the final scene, as credits roll, is maximum cheesy. The best thing I can say about it was it was compelling. It kept me watching throughout and almost mesmerised, wondering what would happen. At one point near the end I thought we might be twisting into something unexpected which was going to elevate this film, but it continued to a fairly predictable, uninspiring conclusion.