Directed by Miguel Arteta and written by Mike White, Beatriz at Dinner is the story of a Mexican-American massage therapist who is unexpectedly invited to dinner by one of her clients where she finds herself dealing with an arrogant dinner guest. The film is a look into a dinner party filled with rich white people and a lone working-class Mexican-American who finds herself at a dinner where it eventually starts to unravel due to her presence. Starring Salma Hayek, Connie Britton, David Warshofsky, Chloe Sevigny, Jay Duplass, Amy Landecker, and John Lithgow. Beatriz at Dinner is an eerie yet somber film from Miguel Arteta.
What happens when a massage therapist finds herself being a guest at a dinner party where the man who is the center of attention happens to be one of the most evil men living on Earth? That is pretty much what the film is about as it explores a day in the life of this woman named Beatriz (Salma Hayek) who spends the day doing work at a massage therapy center in helping cancer patients as she also has a rich client in Kathy (Connie Britton). Mike White’s screenplay doesn’t just explore Beatriz’s day as she copes with loss of a goat who was killed by her neighbor but also a day that feels very typical until she is asked to see Kathy who is preparing for a dinner party with her husband Grant (David Warshofsky). Beatriz’s relationship with Kathy and Grant has much to do with the fact that Beatriz had helped their daughter with her battle with cancer. Due to the fact that Beatriz’s car couldn’t start, Kathy invites Beatriz to stay for dinner where Beatriz spends much of the film being this observer as the guests at the dinner party are all white.
The guest of honor at this dinner party is the real estate mogul Doug Strutt (John Lithgow) who is this unconventional antagonist who seems to take pleasure in the money he makes as well as be arrogant in his accomplishments. Yet, Beatriz is curious over a connection she has with him as Strutt is accompanied by his wife Jeana (Amy Landecker) while a couple in Shannon (Chloe Sevigny) and Alex (Jay Duplass) are also guests at the party. Beatriz would observe everything that goes on while also telling about how she met Grant and Kathy through their daughter only to be interrupted by Strutt who would ask questions about her status in America. The dinner would eventually intensify with Kathy stuck in the middle wanting to protect Beatriz yet is aware that Strutt is the reason she and Grant are living a life of luxury as they really don’t know anything else.
Miguel Arteta’s direction doesn’t really bear much of a visual style other than recurring images of Mexico as well as Beatriz’s dead goat and ocean waves as it play into the sense of longing and loss that looms Beatriz during the course of the day. While there are some wide shots in the film including the way Arteta would frame some of the characters in a scene inside Kathy and Grant’s home as a way to show how detached everyone else is to Beatriz’s life and Beatriz herself. It’s also the way Arteta would use close-ups and medium shots to play into Beatriz’s own observation of this party as well as the guests who don’t know her at all as they find her interesting but are concerned about their own lives and what’s going to happen. Yet, with Strutt being the center of attention talking about his accomplishments and ultra-conservative views on the world. Beatriz would eventually find herself becoming more disgusted with him and who he is as a human being.
Arteta’s approach to the suspense and drama is restrained as well as it play into Beatriz being this outsider who would realize more of her connection to Strutt and his actions towards the world. There are these brief moments of intense moments of confrontation but it is all about the status quo as there’s elements of realism that Beatriz has to deal with as it relates to who she is and the ways of the world. Despite the things Strutt says and his actions about what he does, there is still an air of defiance and dignity in Beatriz in how Arteta would frame her as it does play into her place in the world. Overall, Arteta crafts a riveting and understated film about a Mexican-American massage therapist being a guest in a dinner party with one of the vilest men in the world.
Cinematographer Wyatt Garfield does excellent work with the film’s cinematography for the usage of low-key lights for the scenes in the daytime as well as the look for the scenes at night including its interior/exterior setting. Editor Jay Deuby does fantastic work with the editing as it does have bit of styles in the usage of the recurring flashbacks in some stylized transitions as well as some rhythmic cuts to play into the drama. Production designer Ashley Fenton and set decorator Madelaine Frezza do amazing work with the look of Kathy and Grant’s home in how lavish it is as well as the look of their daughter’s room. Costume designer Christina Blackaller does wonderful work with the costumes as it play into the ordinary look of Beatriz to the more posh look of Kathy and her friends.
Visual effects supervisors George Loucas and Scott Mitchell do nice work with the visual effects as it is largely minimal for some exterior set dressing including images that Beatriz would see. The sound work of Dan Snow is superb for its low-key atmosphere in the dinner scenes as well as how Beatriz would observe guests outside the house as she is listening to their conversations. The film’s music by Mark Mothersbaugh is terrific for its low-key approach to the music with its mixture of ambient, soft keyboard-based music, and somber orchestral music to play into the melancholia while music supervisor Margaret Yen provides a low-key soundtrack filled with kitsch music played in the background as well as an ambient piece by Brian Eno.
The casting by Joanna Colbert and Meredith Tucker is amazing as it features a few small roles from John Early as Grant and Kathy’s servant and Enrique Castillo as a tow truck driver. Jay Duplass and Chloe Sevigny are superb in their respective roles as the couple Alex and Shannon with the former being someone who likes to drink and do immature things while the latter is a snobbish woman who believes she has a lot to offer. Amy Landecker is fantastic as Strutt’s wife Jeana as a woman who doesn’t really know much about the world as well as being ignorant about everything she has. David Warshofsky is excellent as Kathy’s husband Grant who isn’t keen on having Beatriz at the dinner party but reluctantly gives in since Beatriz did a lot for his daughter.
Connie Britton is brilliant as Kathy as a woman who is kind of Beatriz though she’s is torn in her loyalty to Strutt for the lifestyle he’s brought to her and Grant as well as what Beatriz meant to her as it’s a tricky performance from Britton who could’ve been a one-dimensional character but shows there’s still an air of humanity despite her ignorance of what Beatriz is going through. John Lithgow is incredible as Doug Strutt as it’s a performance that just oozes this air of inhumanity, arrogance, and disdain as someone who is proud of what he’s done with little regard for what other people think and whom he’s hurt as it is one of Lithgow’s great performances. Finally, there’s Salma Hayek in a phenomenal performance as the titular character as a Mexican-American massage therapist who becomes an unexpected dinner guest as she deals with the other guests including Strutt whom she would despise as the night goes on as it’s a restrained performance from Hayek that shows a woman who’s endured so much loss and heartache as it’s Hayek in one of her defining performances.
Beatriz at Dinner is a sensational film from Miguel Arteta that features top-notch performances from Salma Hayek and John Lithgow. Featuring a compelling script by Mike White, a superb ensemble supporting cast, and a look into a world that is toxic with the person at the center of attention mirrors a certain figure who is probably the most hated individual of the 21st Century so far. In the end, Beatriz at Dinner is a spectacular film from Miguel Arteta.
Miguel Arteta Films: (Star Maps) – (Chuck & Buck) – (The Good Girl) – (Youth in Revolt) – Cedar Rapids - (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day) – (Duck Butter)
© thevoid99 2018
Based on the book A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea by Richard Phillips and Stephan Tatly, Captain Phillips is the true story about a merchant freighter captain whose ship is taken hostage by Somali pirates as he tries to deal with the pirates and keep his crew safe. Directed by Paul Greengrass and screenplay by Billy Ray, the film is a look into how a man tries to maintain a peaceful situation while being captured by pirates as he is trying to keep his crew safe as Tom Hanks plays the titular role. Also starring Catherine Keener, Barkhad Abdi, David Warshofsky, Chris Mulkey, Yul Vazquez, and Corey Thompson. Captain Phillips is a gripping yet mesmerizing film from Paul Greengrass.
The film is based on a real-life incident in 2009 where Captain Richard Phillips is leading a freighter cargo ship on the coast of Somalia where he and his crew have to deal with a small band of pirates led by Muse (Barkhad Abdi). Muse and his small band of brothers do whatever to get on board where they succeed and take over the ship while Phillips tries to protect his crew and make sure no one is killed. It’s a film that plays into this real-life situation where Phillips is aware that they’re in dangerous territory as he informs his crew of the situation they have to face where it becomes very real. Even as he has to do a lot of negotiating and such to ensure his crew’s safety and give these pirates what they want without hurting anyone.
Billy Ray’s screenplay may have a traditional structure of sorts but it strays from convention where it plays into moments of real-time. The first act shows Phillips’ life at home with his wife Andrea (Catherine Keener) as well as the dreary world of these Somali pirates as they’re in need to make money in order to survive as Muse is someone who has experience in piracy. Phillips is aware of what he’s facing as he and his crew would encounter pirates in the first act where Muse’s first attempt with another boat doesn’t go well until he gets an idea to make his second attempt where he and his small crew succeed. Much of the film’s second act is about Phillips trying to ensure Muse that he’s not going cause trouble as his crew hide out where they’re not trying to make any attempts to do anything heroic or else someone gets killed.
Adding to the chaos in script is that there’s an element in the battle of wits between Muse and Phillips where there’s a bit of mutual respect for each other as Phillips knows that Muse is no fool and Muse is aware of Phillips determination to stay alive once the U.S. Navy gets involved. With Phillips captured on his own in a lifeboat with the pirates, it becomes this even bigger game where the pirates have to deal and negotiate with the Navy though it’s a showdown that doesn’t get any easier where Ray creates a bigger complexity in the script as well as reveal that there’s no such thing as heroes or villains in this story.
Paul Greengrass’ direction is very engaging for the way he presents the film as if a real-life situation is happening. Going for that cinema verite approach with hand-held cameras and close-ups, Greengrass maintains a lot of simplicity and intimacy for most of the film where it showcases life on a freighter cargo ship. Even as he creates some images to show a world where men do their job and keep themselves safe as they’re aware of the situations they might have to deal with. Once the pirates come into the story, Greengrass adds that air of suspense into the story where he keeps the camera in tact to both the little engine boats the pirates are in as well as the big ship to see how it would maneuver itself into getting away from the pirates.
The suspense definitely intensifies in its second and third act where the moments of violence are low-key but also chilling to see what a crew member will do to see if he just hides or do something knowing how tense the situation is. By the time the film moves into the lifeboat, there is this air of claustrophobia and tension that occurs while it is inter-cut with these images of the Navy trying to figure out how to create a situation and make sure they save Phillips life as even Phillips himself tries to fight his way. Even as he encounters moments where he could’ve died but the Muse character knows that if he’s killed, they all die. That sense of intensity in the suspense and the sense of something could go wrong occurs throughout the film as it leads to this very harrowing climax. Overall, Greengrass crafts a very engrossing yet captivating thriller about a ship captain’s willingness to survive against pirates.
Cinematographer Barry Ackroyd does fantastic work with the film‘s cinematography where it has this air of grain to play into something that feels real as well as using some low-key lights and such for the scenes in the lifeboat as well as the scenes inside the Naval ships. Editor Christopher Rouse does brilliant work with the editing with its use of rhythmic and methodical cuts to play into the suspense as well as the conversations between Muse and Phillips in their game of wits. Production designer Paul Kirby does superb work with the minimal set pieces from the look of the boat the pirates are in before they attempt to capture something to the interiors of the freighter and the lifeboat.
Costume designer Mark Bridges does nice work with the costumes as it’s mostly casual for the crew while the pirates ragged clothing showcase the world they come from and how desperate they are. Visual effects supervisors Richard Kidd, Charlie Noble, and Adam Rowland do terrific work with some of the film‘s minimal visual effects such as the backdrops for some of the exteriors settings. Sound editor Oliver Tarney does amazing work with the sound to play into the tense atmosphere that occurs in the ship as well as the sounds of sirens and ocean waves to play into the film‘s suspense. The film’s music by Henry Jackman is wonderful for its ominous yet enchanting orchestral score to play into the film’s suspense and drama that happens throughout the film.
The casting by Francine Maisler is marvelous for the ensemble that is created as it features some noteworthy small performances from Catherine Keener as Phillips’ wife Andrea, Yul Vasquez as a naval commander trying to negotiate Captain Phillips’ safety, Max Martini as U.S. Navy SEAL commander, Chris Mulkey as the senior crew member John Cronan, Corey Johnson as the helmsman Ken Quinn, David Warshofsky as chief engineer Mike Perry, and Michael Chernus as Phillips’ first officer Shane Murphy. Mahat M. Ali, Faysal Ahmed, and Barkhad Abdirahman are great as the three hijackers who try to maintain control while pondering about what to do with Captain Phillips. Barkhad Abdi is brilliant as the pirates leader Muse who tries to maintain some control of the situation though he is also not a fool as Abdi just has this very unique presence that makes him terrifying but also compelling as he makes the character sort of cool for the fact that he’s very determined.
Finally, there’s Tom Hanks in the titular role as it’s a performance that proves into why Hanks is one of American cinema’s great actors. Hanks has this everyman quality that allows his character to be engaging while he maintains a sense of cool in the way he handles his situation. It’s definitely a performance that shows Hanks just being calm and cool while showing that he also has an edge to him which proves that he is still one of the best actors working today.
Captain Phillips is a tremendous film from Paul Greengrass that features an incredible performance from Tom Hanks. Told in a very direct and gripping style with a cast that is solid including a major discovery in Barkhad Abdi. While it doesn’t feature anything new that Greengrass has done, it does however maintain that only he could make a film like this that is filled with suspense as well as a real-life story without sugar-coating it. In the end, Captain Phillips is a spectacular film from Paul Greengrass.
Paul Greengrass Films: (Resurrected) - (Open Fire) - (The One That Got Away) - (The Fix) - (The Theory of Flight) - Bloody Sunday - (The Bourne Supremacy) - United 93 - (The Bourne Ultimatum) - (Green Zone)
© thevoid99 2013
Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master is the story of a troubled sailor who meets the leader of a newly-created faith organization as he becomes the leader’s right-hand man. Based on the founding of Scientology and its leader L. Ron Hubbard, the film explores a man finding meaning in his life through religion where he eventually starts to question its teachings. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Laura Dern, David Warshofsky, and Kevin J. O’Connor. The Master is a provocative yet captivating film from Paul Thomas Anderson.
After serving as a seaman in the Navy during World War II, Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) struggles to maintain a normal life as he continues to booze around from place to place while causing trouble in whatever place he works at. Unable to find a place in the world and in a drunken stupor, Quell suddenly boards on a boat where a party is happening. When the boat leaves San Francisco on its way to New York City, Quell meets a man named Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who is the leader of a new faith-based organization known as the Cause. With Dodd’s wife Peggy (Amy Adams) on board as well as the rest of Dodd’s family and fellow followers, Quell is intrigued by this world as he makes some booze for Dodd. Dodd would also have sessions with Quell to see what makes him tick and what he’s afraid of as he welcomes Quell to the Cause.
Arriving at New York City for a party where Dodd wants to present his ideas to society, a man named John More (Christopher Evan Welch) asks questions that starts to annoy Dodd leading to Quell to respond by throwing food at him. Forced out of New York society, Dodd and his followers go to Philadelphia to stay at the home of Cause member Helen Sullivan (Laura Dern) where Dodd is trying to complete his second book. After Dodd is arrested for supposedly extorting money where Quell tries to fight off the police, Peggy and family members think about kicking Quell out of the group. Dodd decides to let Quell stay in order to help him as Quell deals with Dodd’s teachings to get better. Though Quell manages to be helpful for Dodd and the Cause as it leads to the publication of Dodd’s second book. Quell is still troubled by his own demons as he suddenly flees during a test as he later meet Dodd one last time.
Whenever someone feels out of place in the world and wants to find somewhere that will allow him to be part of something. They’ll do anything to fit right in whether it’s part of a cult or something that is bigger than themselves. For a man like Freddie Quell, here is someone who is completely out of sorts with the world at large. He is obsessed with sex and boozing as he has a hard time holding down a job or be part of society that expects him to conform to the ways of the world. By stumbling onto a ship, he would discover a world that is unique and that will allow him to be part of something. Allowing him into this world is its leader Lancaster Dodd. Here’s a man who has been around the world and has experienced a lot while wants to help people who are troubled by their past and such.
While Dodd’s methods are definitely questionable as some like his own son Val (Jesse Plemons) among many others including Helen Sullivan later on at a convention. There is no doubt that Dodd is just trying to help someone as unhinged as Quell by asking him some simple questions and wonder what is troubling Quell. It would lead to answers about who Quell is as it eventually leads to more unconventional methods that would force Quell to confront many things. While what Dodd’s teaches may help Quell, not everyone feels like Quell is responding to Dodd’s methods as it leads to many questions.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s screenplay definitely explores many themes that he had done in the past such as the idea of family and belonging to something. Yet, he also explores alienation in the form of Freddie Quell as he is desperate to belong somewhere. However, there’s people like Peggy Dodd who is uneasy about Quell as she does try to help him with mixed results. The Dodds are this unique family who are trying to express their views on the world and faith as they want to offer something. While Peggy is a much more fervent believer of the Cause as she is sort of like a second-in-command to her husband. Lancaster is not as aggressive but will be if he’s pushed.
With Quell being part of this group of people, he does seem like he is now family where Dodd becomes a father of sorts to him. Still, there would be ways for Quell to undo these things as it plays into the third act of the story. At this convention where Dodd presents his new book to his followers, there’s a party that is happening where everyone is having fun but Dodd isn’t there. A follower (Kevin J. O’Connor) briefly talks about the book where Quell would later assault this man as it’s followed by a scene where Helen is confused by Dodd’s new ideas in the book. It would later show that both Quell and Dodd are both aiming for something that is very similar but are taking very different paths to this destination that would ultimately lead to the two have one final meeting.
Anderson’s direction is grand in its scope as he definitely takes full-advantage of the canvas that he uses for this film. With gorgeous images of the sea and deserts to help create these amazingly hypnotic wide shots, Anderson is definitely yearning to recreate a type of cinema that had been lost for some time in the form of the epic film. Not epic in terms of stories that are larger than life but rather epic in terms of its visual scale. Shooting in locations around California as well as the Mare Island, Anderson still aims to create a film that is larger just as it’s set in postwar America in the late 1940s and early 1950s as it’s about to enter something that would modern.
While many of the exterior locations and shots of the sea have this majestic look that plays to the world of old-school epic cinema, Anderson still maintains an air of intimacy in the story that he presents. With a lot of striking compositions in the way he frames the actors in a shot. Anderson creates something that is more grounded in humanity as he is interested in these two very different men just trying to find answers about how to live life in the universe. Even in the film’s final moments such as Dodd and Quell’s final meeting where he places the camera in a wide shot as both men are at the edge of the frame. It’s to establish how far apart they are in the world they live in as both seem to have an understanding about each other but both are aware of their own failings as men. Overall, Anderson creates a film that is just visually-spellbinding as well as engrossing its exploration of faith and humanity.
Cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr. does spellbinding work with the film’s cinematography to capture the beauty of the locations in California such as the sea, the desert, and the vegetable groves along with lush interiors for the scenes in the Sullivan home with some low-key lighting schemes to help set the mood for those moments. Editors Leslie Jones and Peter McNulty do brilliant work with the editing to play up Quell‘s manic issues while slowing things down for a methodical pace as he gives in to Dodd‘s teaching with a few amazing montages to help establish these moments. Production designers Jack Fisk and David Crank, along with set decorator Amy Wells, do fantastic work with the set pieces to create the look and feel of postwar America as well as the look of the boat and places the characters encounter.
Costume designer Mark Bridges does superb work with the costumes to play up the look of postwar America from the dresses the women wear along with the suits that Dodd wears to express his very warm personality. Sound designer Christopher Scarabosio and co-sound editor Matthew Wood do excellent work with the sound to capture intimacy of some of the locations along with the raucous nature of the party scenes that happen in the film.
The film’s music by Jonny Greenwood is phenomenal for its unconventional orchestral score that features jazzy bass lines, crackling percussions, soaring string instruments, and themes that are at times calm but also unsettling to play up the dark tone of the film. Music supervisor Linda Cohen does terrific work with the music as she uses lots of pieces of the time including a few standards that are sung by Philip Seymour Hoffman along with songs sung by Ella Fitzgerald, Jo Stafford, and Helen Forrest to set a mood for the scenes in the film.
The casting by Cassandra Kulukundis is incredible for the ensemble that is created for this film. In small but notable roles, there’s a cameo from Melora Walters as singer in the convention, David Warshofsky as Philadelphia policeman, Kevin J. O’Connor as a follower of the Cause, Christopher Evan Welch as a man who tries to scrutinize Dodd, Amy Ferguson as a salesgirl Quell tries to hook up with early in the film, W. Earl Brown as a man that Quell fights at the mall, Madisen Beaty as Quell’s ex-girlfriend Doris, and Lena Endre as Doris’ mother. Other noteworthy small roles include Jesse Plemons as Dodd’s son Val, Rami Malek as Dodd’s son-in-law Clark, Ambyr Childers as Dodd’s daughter Elizabeth, and Laura Dern as Dodd’s colleague and friend Helen Sullivan.
Amy Adams is tremendous as Dodd’s wife Peggy who displays a sweetness in the way she presents herself as a supporting wife as well as a dark edge in making sure her husband succeeds as well as dealing with Quell’s erratic behavior. Philip Seymour Hoffman is marvelous as the very charismatic Lancaster Dodd by displaying a lot of energy and wit to a character that has a lot of questionable methods but is very engaging in the way he presents himself. Finally, there’s Joaquin Phoenix in a chilling yet evocative performance as Freddie Quell by creating a man who is on the brink of collapse as there’s a dark sense of humor to Phoenix’s role as well as something grand to his character in the way he displays himself physically as well as emotionally as it’s definitely Phoenix at his finest.
The Master is an outstanding film from Paul Thomas Anderson that features top-notch performances from Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams. While it is a far more complex film than anything Anderson had done, it is still very intriguing for the way he tackles the world of faith and alienation set in a very tense time in American history. Particularly in how the world of religious cults might’ve been formed and the intentions they had once promised before it became more subject of scrutiny. In the end, The Master is a remarkable achievement from Paul Thomas Anderson.
P.T. Anderson Films: Hard Eight/Sydney - Boogie Nights - Magnolia - Punch-Drunk Love - There Will Be Blood - Inherent Vice - Junun - Phantom Thread - Licorice Pizza - One Battle After Another
Related: The Shorts & Videos of P.T. Anderson - The Auteurs #15: Paul Thomas Anderson
© thevoid99 2012
Written, directed, and starring Miranda July, The Future is the story about a couple whose deteriorating relationship changes when they decide to adopt a stray cat as it would affect their life. The film explores the world of relationships and how bringing something new would change things. Also starring Hamish Linklater, David Warshofsky, and Isabella Acres. The Future for all of its quirks ends up being an overly pretentious and self-indulgent piece of shit from Miranda July.
The film is essentially about this oddball couple in Sophie (Miranda July) and Jason (Hamish Linklater) who have adopted an injured stray cat they call Paw-Paw as they wait a month for Paw-Paw to heal and come home. During the course of the month, the two try to pursue individual goals where Jason volunteers to sell trees to people as he befriends an old man (Joe Putterlik). Sophie meanwhile, is a dance teacher who is trying to pursue her own aspirations as a dancer as she meets a middle-aged man in Marshall (David Warshofsky) where they begin an affair. This would cause a rupture in the relationship as both Jason and Sophie figure out what to do.
It’s a story that could’ve been interesting but the problem is that Miranda July tries to put a lot of quirks and ideas into the story that it ends up being a movie about two very pathetic people who are so concerned with themselves and such that they lose some grasp of reality. It’s not just that Sophie and Jason are characters who are really annoying but they’re people with no real sense of direction and ambition. Sophie would try to do a project called 30 different dances in 30 different days but it never goes anywhere as she just gives up while Jason would try to go door-to-door selling trees that doesn’t go anywhere either. Adding to the narrative that ends up being an infuriating distraction is a voice-over narration from the cat (voiced by Miranda July) that ponders when it will be picked up.
It’s among the many aspects of the film that doesn’t work as July wants to create a story about loneliness and the desire to connect but the lead characters are just so unsympathetic in their quirky personas. The direction of the film is also a problem as July wanted to have the narrative shift into moments of surrealism where Jason talks to a moon in an attempt to create something that David Lynch would’ve done. Instead, it just adds to the pretentiousness of the film that also has Sophie doing her dance with her favorite pet t-shirt that ends up baffling Marshall. Then comes a moment in the third act that revolves around the fate of the cat and what happens just adds to the stupidity that the film takes leading to a very unsatisfying ending. Overall, July creates a film that is just an awful mess that never goes anywhere as well as characters that aren’t engaging.
Many of the film’s technical work such as Nikolai von Gravenitz’s cinematography, Andrew Bird’s editing, and Rainer Heesch’s sound design have their moments but don’t really do anything to the story. The costumes by Christine Wittenborn plays to the hipster world that Sophie and Jason live in as well as the art direction from production designer Elliott Hostetter, set decorator Max Juren, and art director Ruth de Jong. For the silly moments between Jason and the moon, visual effects supervisors Grant Keiner and Eliza Pelham Randall provide the look of the moon.
The only real technical highlight of the film comes from music composer Jon Brion as he creates a pretty decent score that is filled with ambient touches and melodic-driven themes to play up the quirkiness. The film’s music soundtrack from music supervisor Margaret Yen has a nice soundtrack that mixes old-school jazz with a bit of indie music that includes Sophie dancing to the music of Beach House.
The casting by Jeanne McCarthy and Nicole Abellera is incredible for the ensemble that is created but none of the actors really get a chance to stand out or do anything with their characters. Performances from Isabella Acres as Marshall’s daughter Gabriella, Joe Putterlik as the old man Jason befriends, and David Warshofsky as Marshall never really get a chance to really flesh out their characters as they just add to the eccentricity of the film. Hamish Linklater and Miranda July’s performances are just terrible because of the characters that July has created. They really have no depth as they try to do weird things and be odd as they come across as caricatures.
The Future is a horrible film from Miranda July that meanders in a tedious story with lead characters that are just annoying. For someone as unique as July is, this film serves as nothing more than a really misguided attempt to create a story that revels too much in its own quirks. Even as it starts to overwhelm its audience with its attempt to make the characters more precious as it leads to a horrific climax. In the end, Miranda July’s The Future is a film that just plainly fucking sucks.
Miranda July Films: Me and You and Everyone We Know - Kajillionaire
© thevoid99 2012
