We Need To Talk About Kevin [2011]
Off-putting thriller directed by Lynne Ramsay lets us peer into the depressing life of Eva Katchadourian (Tilda Swinton), a former writer who now works at a travel agency, as she deals with the aftermath of her son’s heinous crimes. Kevin (Ezra Miller) is the unsettling embodiment of a mother’s worst nightmare; the son from Hell. The vivid imagery provided by cinematographer Seamus McGarvey (the color red is especially striking) contrasts with the film’s dark, haunting tone. The soundtrack (excluding Jonny Greenwood’s score) is an odd choice of songs that don’t really fit the movie, however. Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller, as afflicted mother and diabolical son, are pure gold. Swinton has been name-checked by virtually every award-dispensing group but the omission of Miller is one I can’t explain. The ‘Best Supporting Actor’ race is arguably the weakest category this year, so the snub is doubly maddening.
Great review but I disagree with your assertion that “the Best Supporting Actor race is arguably the weakest category this year. I think it’s incredibly string. The nominations haven’t been announced as I write this yet, but possible nominees include Christopher Plummer – Beginners, Albert Brooks – Drive, Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn, Jonah Hill – Moneyball, Nick Nolte – Warrior, Ben Kingsley – Hugo, Max Von Sydow – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Brad Pitt – The Tree of Life, Armie Hammer – J. Edgar, and Viggo Mortensen – A Dangerous Method. That’s a pretty impressive list in my book. But nice review as always. Can’t wait to see this.
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I have to agree with Mark: there are a lot of supporting actors out there deserving an Oscar for their performances last year. Though I didn’t think Armie Hammer did all that well in J. Edgar; if there was anyone that made that film much more entertaining (and believable despite the horrible makeup), it was DiCaprio. My personal pick is Nick Nolte for Warrior.
As for your review, Fernando…I’ll just say I now understand this movie a lot more. I haven’t seen it yet, but no matter how many times the plot was summarized to me, I never seemed to understand what was wrong with it. I haven’t seen it; it just sounds bizarre to me, so I probably won’t, but I might anyway.
Thanks!
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I’m aware of all the great actors vying for that Oscar this year, some of them among my favorite, but few of the contenders have really wowed me (Brad Pitt and Nick Nolte, for example). I haven’t seen a lot of the Oscar-buzzy films, but I still think the work of these guys is a little inferior to the one of those in the Actor, Actress and Sup. Actress categories.
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