This gets a reluctant 6 out of 10 that borders very close on a 7 out of 10.
So why the reluctance? Because this is a film that deserved better editing to service the award-winning performances put on by Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis. My goodness, they really were a tour de force here.
The problem is that the spastic and surrealistic editing made it impossible to really sink into the film; it always felt like it was trying to throw a thousand things at you all at once while trying to unfold these very complex and disturbed characters.
In some ways, I kind of get it -- the story itself is way too ridiculous to be told through traditional story linearity; it's not that kind of film. But at the same time, the over-abundance of quick-cuts, flashing lights, and over-the-top camera angles and performances by everybody else in the film just made it... weird.
Apart from Woody and Lewis putting on appropriately show-stealing, endearing, crazy, and hypnotic performances, Tom Sizemore does a fine job of pushing right up to the edge of zany but still manages to reel it in and scale it back so you get this kind of, sleazy, scumbag cop character who you could almost... almost see being real. He reminded me a lot of a character out of Sin City -- particularly Benecio Del Toro's character.
But therein lies the problem with this film -- Woody and Juliette turn in very realistic portrayals of these disturbed killers. You could see them being real; they aren't too far removed from the couple in Kalifornia. But there's -- and maybe this is the wrong word for it -- a sense of groundedness to their characters. I believed they were real in a surreal world crafted by Oliver Stone and Quentin Tarantino.
The over-the-top cartoon caricatures portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones -- who I usually adore in just about every role he's in -- and Robert Downey Jr. -- who I also usually adore in just about every role he's in -- really took me out of the film. It was just... it was too much.
I don't know if the actors decided to push it over the line or if Oliver Stone told them to push it over the line, but it was just too much. I think someone like Rob Lowe may have been a better choice for Robert Downey Jr's role. I don't think Lowe would have been quite as over-the-top, because once again, it took me out of the film with the zaniness of it all.
In some ways, the film played out more like a comedy than a crime-drama. And it was all because of the zaniness and wacky editing.
I kind of would have liked to have seen this film done better justice with more naturalized performances and less over-the-top editing and skit pieces.
In some ways I now -- upon reflection -- understand all the crazy press this film received when it first released. I originally thought it was because it was like Silence of the Lambs, or The Onion Field, or Lumet's Q&A -- something so grounded and realistic that it made people recoil. But that wasn't the case at all. This film had a lot of brutal but over-the-top violence, which made it difficult to take seriously, and the set-pieces and surrealism really dampened the more controversial subject matter that the movie inferred through flashbacks and quick-cuts.
Interestingly enough, if this film had been released today it would hardly garner a peep from most people because it likely would have ended up on a streaming service and then become quickly forgotten. Back when movies were either in theaters or went straight to video, there was a lot to talk about with this film, but not all of it in a good way, and mostly in good part to the fact that not all of it is entertaining.
I will say, though, that it didn't feel like a two-hour film. It's a gripping film, no doubt. The third act kind of whizzes by due to a lot going on, even if the whole thing becomes so ridiculous it borders on parody. I just have a hard time completely disliking this film because Woody and Juliette were star-stealers in this one, but man... I wish the editing, the script, the storyboarding, and the rest of the cast were working on the same wavelength as the two leads.
So why the reluctance? Because this is a film that deserved better editing to service the award-winning performances put on by Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis. My goodness, they really were a tour de force here.
The problem is that the spastic and surrealistic editing made it impossible to really sink into the film; it always felt like it was trying to throw a thousand things at you all at once while trying to unfold these very complex and disturbed characters.
In some ways, I kind of get it -- the story itself is way too ridiculous to be told through traditional story linearity; it's not that kind of film. But at the same time, the over-abundance of quick-cuts, flashing lights, and over-the-top camera angles and performances by everybody else in the film just made it... weird.
Apart from Woody and Lewis putting on appropriately show-stealing, endearing, crazy, and hypnotic performances, Tom Sizemore does a fine job of pushing right up to the edge of zany but still manages to reel it in and scale it back so you get this kind of, sleazy, scumbag cop character who you could almost... almost see being real. He reminded me a lot of a character out of Sin City -- particularly Benecio Del Toro's character.
But therein lies the problem with this film -- Woody and Juliette turn in very realistic portrayals of these disturbed killers. You could see them being real; they aren't too far removed from the couple in Kalifornia. But there's -- and maybe this is the wrong word for it -- a sense of groundedness to their characters. I believed they were real in a surreal world crafted by Oliver Stone and Quentin Tarantino.
The over-the-top cartoon caricatures portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones -- who I usually adore in just about every role he's in -- and Robert Downey Jr. -- who I also usually adore in just about every role he's in -- really took me out of the film. It was just... it was too much.
I don't know if the actors decided to push it over the line or if Oliver Stone told them to push it over the line, but it was just too much. I think someone like Rob Lowe may have been a better choice for Robert Downey Jr's role. I don't think Lowe would have been quite as over-the-top, because once again, it took me out of the film with the zaniness of it all.
In some ways, the film played out more like a comedy than a crime-drama. And it was all because of the zaniness and wacky editing.
I kind of would have liked to have seen this film done better justice with more naturalized performances and less over-the-top editing and skit pieces.
In some ways I now -- upon reflection -- understand all the crazy press this film received when it first released. I originally thought it was because it was like Silence of the Lambs, or The Onion Field, or Lumet's Q&A -- something so grounded and realistic that it made people recoil. But that wasn't the case at all. This film had a lot of brutal but over-the-top violence, which made it difficult to take seriously, and the set-pieces and surrealism really dampened the more controversial subject matter that the movie inferred through flashbacks and quick-cuts.
Interestingly enough, if this film had been released today it would hardly garner a peep from most people because it likely would have ended up on a streaming service and then become quickly forgotten. Back when movies were either in theaters or went straight to video, there was a lot to talk about with this film, but not all of it in a good way, and mostly in good part to the fact that not all of it is entertaining.
I will say, though, that it didn't feel like a two-hour film. It's a gripping film, no doubt. The third act kind of whizzes by due to a lot going on, even if the whole thing becomes so ridiculous it borders on parody. I just have a hard time completely disliking this film because Woody and Juliette were star-stealers in this one, but man... I wish the editing, the script, the storyboarding, and the rest of the cast were working on the same wavelength as the two leads.