ohenderson-04319 Reviews

Saltburn (2023)

Interesting, but ultimately pointless

[6/10 · 23 January 2024]

Ultimately fairly engaging throughout, but also completely pointless.

The film seems to start as a fairly conventional coming of age/fish out of water drama/light comedy with some touching scenes and general observations of a world most of us will never experience.

Just after half way through, it takes a huge hand-break turn without any obvious warning or character development. This is jarring and makes you wonder if they'd employed a entirely different director with an alternative vision for the second half (they didnt, but we have to suspect some heavy editing).

The second half of the film felt like a retcon of the first. I have no idea what the message of the film was supposed to be and ultimately, it all felt a bit pointless. Worth a watch if you want something interesting to watch on prime, but far from a masterpiece.

Poor Things (2023)

Though about it for days and don't know what to make of it.

[9/10 · 23 January 2024]

Funny, but disturbing. Shocking, but light hearted. Somewhere between Frakenstein's monster and a teenage coming of age film.

Having spent days thinking about it, I still don't know what to make of this film, other than that it was thoroughly engaging and as unique as anything I've seen.

As a fairly casual cinema viewer when the film started in black and white with completely abstract scenes, I groaned inwardly. If this was to be the entire film, I honestly believed I would have left before the hour mark.

But slowly, the film took hold. There are some interesting ethical and moral questions included, which the film passes no judgement on, merely leaving it to the viewer. I don't know what to think and this made me love every minute of it.

This film is not for everyone and is clearly aimed more at the arts crowd and awards than the average viewer, but as someone who is not an arty type, but enjoys something different, this film fits the bill.

Russian Doll (2019–2022)

S1: No, it's not really a comedy - still very compelling

[8/10 · 23 April 2022]

I almost didn't watch this after reading some of the negative reviews below, but I am glad I did. The basic premise will be familiar to most (groundhog day-esque), but the show threw in just enough twists and intrigue to keep it genuinely compelling. I ended up watching it in 2 nights.

The characters were a bit of a caricature in places, but the show, despite its relatively short run time (particularly for Netflix), managed to believably explain the protagonists world view and actions before the end. Mostly good performances throughout. I also thought the ending didn't quite tie up all of the loose ends scattered throughout, but was still satisfying, hence the 8 out of 10.

One of the better things I've seen recently.

The Gentlemen (2019)

Not particularly clever or complicated, but enjoyable

[8/10 · 16 January 2022]

Somehow I've never got around to watching any other Guy Richie films, so came at this without much in the way of expectation.

The storyline isn't particularly complicated or innovative, but a combination of solid performances, mostly strong dialogue and dark humour kept me engaged throughout. Unlike a lot of more common films, this doesn't have to rely heavily on over the top action sequences and instead focuses on (albeit sometimes derivative) story telling.

Without wanting to give anything away, I did feel there's a reasonable sized plot hole in the characters seemingly failing to draw the obvious conclusion as to how some information about the location of illicit activities could have been leaked fairly early on, but given how much I enjoyed the rest of it, I forgot about it pretty quickly.