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The first act of this film is terrific. I was hooked immediately and completely bought into the world which they create. [character] and [character] just hit it off, and to respond to some recent discussion about this, I totally bought the insta-romance between the two. Now it wasn’t perfect, but I wasn’t confused by it either, maybe because I am a romantic.
But when it makes it to the trial it kind of just slows down way too much. I also felt uncomfortable with the USA v. UK sentiment between the two lawyers. It felt like it didn’t belong in a film dealing with love and death. If the filmmakers wanted to deal with that, they could have tried to do it symbolically, but I didn’t need that banter in this film.
It’s a harsh film, then, one that confronts its audience and assaults their senses. Some will be put off by the visual style, some by the plot’s massive jumps in severity, and some by its thematic and allegoric intensity. I can’t fault anybody for these reactions. One change here or there would have likely tipped me over into intense hatred. But that didn’t happen for me. I was fully sucked into this movie. I went with it. If you can, and that’s a big if, it’s a rewarding experience both as entertainment and fodder for thought and conversation. It’s a movie I cannot recommend to anybody, but I also want everybody to see it so we can talk about it, even if it’s just to share just how crazy it is.
This film is deeply beautiful, somewhat thoughtful, but most importantly, incessantly playful. It is laugh out loud funny, even while it is giving us disturbing scenes and images. Our laughter is uncomfortable, but more powerful for that. And the twists made me think of a Gone Girl presented well, not just for the shock, but to consider the concepts, the characters. A character doesn't change just because you learn something new about them.