By Thomas Broome-Jones
"Why would I not understand the context? I am the context."
Stylish, slick, but overall a relatively underwhelming experience. I
wasn't particularly impressed with We Need to Talk About Kevin. The
premise is highly promising, I haven't read the book on which it is
based but from what I gather it is vastly different in style, with the
book being a series of letters that tie together the plot. The film
follows Eva, played by Tilda Swinton, an ex-travel writer who must cope
with the consequences of a high school massacre committed by her son,
Kevin, played by Ezra Miller. The story is told through use of
flashbacks, with the psychological aspect of Eva's personality being
explored in the present day scenes.
The main reason I didn't enjoy this film was what I perceived to be a lack of dramatic strength, the film felt empty and bereft of likeability. My dislike of the film isn't as simple as me thinking it was "bad", but I just couldn't find an access point. I didn't find any of the characters to be particularly likeable or interesting, despite Swinton turning in an outstanding performance. A lot of the scenes felt like they were simply hammering the same point home, Kevin has something wrong with him. After I gathered this it just became a chore to sit through more scenes depicting his acts of cruelty leading up to the massacre, which made for a boring watch for me.
There is some merit in the technical level of the film's execution, although I found the cinematography to be uninspired and clumsy, the sound was remarkably employed, adding real tension to a film that lacks a lot of dramatic pay off until the very end. Speaking of which, the ending is the strongest part of the whole thing for me, I won't spoil anything but it does give a real dramatic punch to your gut that I'm sure will stick with me for a long time to come.
The acting wasn't anything special outside of Swinton, John C. Reilly is an actor that I have a lot of time for but he served his purpose and nothing more, his character was bland for the most part. Ezra Miller I feel was miscast as Kevin, I didn't find him all that intimidating or disturbing, I mainly just saw him as a bratty kid who partook in aggressive and erratic behavior to torment his mother. I didn't think there was any real power behind his performance, I've seen psychopathic kid acting done much better, Damien in The Omen springs to mind.
Overall, a film I'm glad I watched so I can say I watched it, but it seems to be without thematic direction. Is it about motherhood? Is it about psychosis? Is Kevin the subject or is Eva? Nothing is explored in great detail and it leaves me feeling unaltered by the viewing experience, it could have been worse but given the premise it could have also been a lot better.
The main reason I didn't enjoy this film was what I perceived to be a lack of dramatic strength, the film felt empty and bereft of likeability. My dislike of the film isn't as simple as me thinking it was "bad", but I just couldn't find an access point. I didn't find any of the characters to be particularly likeable or interesting, despite Swinton turning in an outstanding performance. A lot of the scenes felt like they were simply hammering the same point home, Kevin has something wrong with him. After I gathered this it just became a chore to sit through more scenes depicting his acts of cruelty leading up to the massacre, which made for a boring watch for me.
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| I must say, making a dark sequel to Caddyshack was a bold move. |
There is some merit in the technical level of the film's execution, although I found the cinematography to be uninspired and clumsy, the sound was remarkably employed, adding real tension to a film that lacks a lot of dramatic pay off until the very end. Speaking of which, the ending is the strongest part of the whole thing for me, I won't spoil anything but it does give a real dramatic punch to your gut that I'm sure will stick with me for a long time to come.
The acting wasn't anything special outside of Swinton, John C. Reilly is an actor that I have a lot of time for but he served his purpose and nothing more, his character was bland for the most part. Ezra Miller I feel was miscast as Kevin, I didn't find him all that intimidating or disturbing, I mainly just saw him as a bratty kid who partook in aggressive and erratic behavior to torment his mother. I didn't think there was any real power behind his performance, I've seen psychopathic kid acting done much better, Damien in The Omen springs to mind.
Overall, a film I'm glad I watched so I can say I watched it, but it seems to be without thematic direction. Is it about motherhood? Is it about psychosis? Is Kevin the subject or is Eva? Nothing is explored in great detail and it leaves me feeling unaltered by the viewing experience, it could have been worse but given the premise it could have also been a lot better.
Thomas Broome-Jones is on Twitter, you can follow him @TBroomey.
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