Adam Klugman

I love Terry Gilliam. Brazil is one of my favorite movies. The Fisher King showed me what movies can be when audiences are asked to engage more imaginatively. But this movie seems like a big mess. What Gilliam does so brilliantly is pull back the curtain on the mythological context that exists just behind our smug, modern cynicism. When it works it’s because he keeps us grounded in the characters real lives. When we lose that reality, the mythic elements become random, costumed shtick and visual excess. Sadly, that’s all I could get from this film. Maybe I completely missed the boat. I’d rather this was the case. I hate to say it but I get why it took 25 years to make it. It might take another 25 years to sort through the nonsense, noise and chaos to figure it out. Who’s got the time?

This is just a straight up good story about a young girl finding her real power in face of a system trying to keep her down and a culture of materialism encouraging to take a short cut. Great cast. Thoughtful, first rate script. I was worried it was gonna end soft, but it booms at the end. The girl playing Lil’ Law is gonna be a star. A lot of movies these days make me wanna take my 2 hours back. This one had me wanting to give more.