My thoughts are a little disjointed on this one as Mad Molly wasn’t the only one imbibing while I watched it. Nevertheless, here are a few random thoughts I managed to salvage from the wreckage:
I can’t remember the last time I had such a love/hate relationship with a movie. At one point, I was ready to turn it off. FU, movie! I want my happy ending! But after I had watched it through to the end, I was glad that I did.
Kate Winslet’s relationship with Liam Hemsworth may be a teensy bit May/December, but it’s still totally believable. Who wouldn’t fall in love with her? It’s about time Hollywood (or whatever the Australian equivalent is) turned that equation upside down.
This is the second movie in a row I’ve watched that emphasizes the relationship women have to clothes and makeup, the previous being The Breakfast Club. Guys may not understand the process, but we certainly understand the results, and this movie does a really good job of showing how putting on a dress can translate to putting on confidence, changing one’s perception of oneself. How the guys see them is important, sure, but not as important as how they see themselves.
This movie has multiple personalities. A mystery, a love story, a dark comedy, a revenge story, a farce: there’s a lot going on. The first half and the second half are almost like two completely different movies. It’s like a jenga puzzle. Every time they pulled another piece out, I kept expecting the whole thing to come crashing down, but somehow it didn’t.
Judy Davis is amazing. How is it I cannot recall having seen anything else with her in it?
RT rating: Critics 55%, Audience: 67%. Phooey on that. It’s a fun movie. What it lacks in coherence it makes up for in playfulness and novelty. It’s fun, different, and deserving.
Superfluous Film Commentary 