Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Movie Review Madness - Nocturnal Animals

Nocturnal Animals had some early Oscar buzz but it fizzled at the box office and reviews were mixed. And rightly so. This is a very weird, rather cold movie. And yet oddly compelling at times. The acting is superb. Amy Adams is truly excellent. She should be Oscar nominated for Arrival, but she shows her versatility with this film too.   The initial opening of the film credits is wacky. I truly thought, “What the heck is going on?” Turns out it was an art opening and Amy is the gallery owner. However, she and her husband (played by Armie Hammer – just there to look awesome) have a troubled marriage and they are living the façade of luxury while drowning in debt. It’s tough to maintain appearance in the fancy crowd. Amy does weary well and we feel how jaded she’s become.

She gets a book delivery – an early copy from her former husband, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. As she reads her “disguised story” In flashback we see them meet, fall in love, defy her parents, exude exuberance for life, and then she screws it up with Armie.  Is this book revenge? There’s definitely a lot of twisted junk going on. The acting is really good and I liked Jake a lot. He’s the sensitive poor writer that the parents do not think are worthy of their daughter. Well snobbery can backfire.

Tom Ford, the designer, directed this film. It is quite posed with beautiful people, but it’s cold. Perhaps that’s the point. I can’t say I liked this film – not at all. I can’t recommend it. I know I see some weird crap…some of it I can give a thumbs up. Nocturnal Animals is ultimately a thumbs down. Consider this a public service review. I am saving you.   You are welcome.


15 comments:

  1. Yeah, I looked at it but decided to skip. Sounds like the right choice.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you again for another good review in which I save my money :)

    betty

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Always happy to help. Let me be tortured. Not you

      Delete
  3. I'm not familiar with this one. This is the first I've heard of it. Thanks for the warning. I'll let this one slip by.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Joanne - I was thinking of seeing this .. but think I'll wait for another day ... cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
  5. A deceptive title...one I wouldn't give a second thought to as something to see. Hope your next movie outing is worth the $$$...you saved me even the 'On Demand' or Netflix fee. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I do only pay $5 for matinee so not awful. But glad I can save you time and money

    ReplyDelete
  7. Fot a start I thought it a weird title, but one can't always go by that. Perhaps if I was a cinema goer I would give this a miss.

    Yvonne.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I never even heard of it! But one to avoid I guess!

    ReplyDelete
  9. We didn't like this one, either. There was another one we watched recently that I wish we'd skipped. It's called "American Honey." Supposedly, it was "inspirational." HA! It was awful and depressing. We sure didn't see anything inspirational about it.

    ReplyDelete