As a "prolific" reviewer, I have found over the years that many IMDb members do not use these reviews to check out a film before watching, they prefer to see the film first and then up-rate the reviews that "agree" with their Pov, and down-rate those that don't. So, as a courtesy to those who have not seen this film, I suggest that rabid fans of this production who have already seen it, and are looking for validation, just stop right here.
That said, I didn't just like the first half-hour of this film, I loved it. Any movie that begins with the massively-talented and criminally under-utilized Alison Pill is automatically ahead on points. (She can do things with her eyes and glasses that many actresses cannot even do with dialog.) The fact that the setting for the opening scenes is a shop that makes sex dolls also was an interesting hook. I have seen a lot of movies -- arguably, too many -- but had never seen that trope before. Clever! As the story progresses, and Pill's character -- who makes sex dolls are a living -- is driven by a co-worker's callous comment to seek bigger breasts, well, again, clever and interesting and quirky as Hell.
So far, so good.
However, after a great beginning, the script takes a sharp segue into that whole "life imitating art imitating life" thing and, to be frank, which is the reviewer's job, none of that added to the power of the film, it only detracted.
To some extent, this reminded me of the classic 1976 Allegro Non Troppo (recommended if you can find a copy!!) where once again the story tries to define the thin line between reality and non-reality.
However in Allegro, there was a constant upbeat sense of joy and wonder to the film, which gave it power. In Zoom, all the cross-arcs -- the egoistical film director, the supermodel who simply wants to be respected as a writer -- actually remove power from the impact of the production.
By the end of the story, when Pill's character suddenly finds herself in the middle of a "drug deal gone bad," I had to conclude this was a classic example of a good film which -- HAD THE SCRIPT SEEN ANOTHER FEW REWRITES -- could have been really great.
That said, I didn't just like the first half-hour of this film, I loved it. Any movie that begins with the massively-talented and criminally under-utilized Alison Pill is automatically ahead on points. (She can do things with her eyes and glasses that many actresses cannot even do with dialog.) The fact that the setting for the opening scenes is a shop that makes sex dolls also was an interesting hook. I have seen a lot of movies -- arguably, too many -- but had never seen that trope before. Clever! As the story progresses, and Pill's character -- who makes sex dolls are a living -- is driven by a co-worker's callous comment to seek bigger breasts, well, again, clever and interesting and quirky as Hell.
So far, so good.
However, after a great beginning, the script takes a sharp segue into that whole "life imitating art imitating life" thing and, to be frank, which is the reviewer's job, none of that added to the power of the film, it only detracted.
To some extent, this reminded me of the classic 1976 Allegro Non Troppo (recommended if you can find a copy!!) where once again the story tries to define the thin line between reality and non-reality.
However in Allegro, there was a constant upbeat sense of joy and wonder to the film, which gave it power. In Zoom, all the cross-arcs -- the egoistical film director, the supermodel who simply wants to be respected as a writer -- actually remove power from the impact of the production.
By the end of the story, when Pill's character suddenly finds herself in the middle of a "drug deal gone bad," I had to conclude this was a classic example of a good film which -- HAD THE SCRIPT SEEN ANOTHER FEW REWRITES -- could have been really great.