Music flows through Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom like a conduit, conducting the passion, pain, and pride of all the characters who play it.
Todd Wofford
Ultimately, the story never attains the dramatic lift for which it aspires, and the result is a movie that rings surprisingly hollow.
American Utopia was the perfect end to a lousy day. Byrne’s music felt like rain–rinsing, cleansing, healing.
The terror of where we are adds a frightening subtext to this cautionary tale of where we might be headed.
All this extra huffing and puffing somehow leads to diminishing returns–more hiking for less mountain.
It’s bound to provoke passionately polarized responses, replete with credible arguments that this might be either the best or worst thing Nolan has ever done.
If you can manage this ebb and flow of narrative energy, Ammonite will reward you with a compelling drama.
The filmmakers are clearly aiming for clever and edgy. Still, it would’ve been nice to feel something for anybody in this entire movie.
Freaky ain’t the greatest shakes, but it does deliver something old and something new, all in one disposable little package.
