By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
SD3 – The Overrated
I don’t have a lot of time to do this fully – more to come – but the hottest film of the moment at Sundance is also the most overrated… The Polanski doc. Very few new insights and a dubious amount of insight.
1:26p update – The press room is loaded to the gills for The Wackness… just showing again that The Press loves pot. Some are still sniffing around Sunshine Cleaning after a lot of the people who came up to buy it decided not to. Not a single pan, but “We liked Amy,” is about the most positivity anyone I spoke to could come up with.
5p update – So… my take on the Polanski doc… basically, it takes a 100% pro-Polanski position from the very start, to the point of pretty much discounting the idea that sex with a 13 year old, however precocious, is a problem. There is also a very clear anti-judge stance from the start… which ultimately is the right stance. But f9/11-esque mocking of the judge before his first mention in context is kinda cheap.
Ultimately, besides the goodwill this filmmaker made for herself by ego-stroking critics and festivalers in her last film, the reason some people are so enamored of the film is that, in the end, there is an easy, obvious villain in the judge… and we can all see that Polanski was screwed by the system after he screwed a 13 year old that he never seems to have apologized for for having screwed.
For me, the only reason this story could be an interesting doc would be some informational revelation – there are none – some insight into Polanski – not much beyond the obvious – some connection to his work – lame at best here – or some connection of all the moral strings leading to some insight. Nope.
It’s not badly made (though no less than 20 minutes too indulgent) and if someone never heard the story, it would be entertaining. But when you think about an entire film coming down to, “bad judge with an eye on the media” and you think of how many stories of judicial misconduct have led to much more significant personal downfalls, the film not only disappoints, but it is kind of infuriating. Onanism of the highest order.
The Wackness is classic Sundance. Good performances… funny ideas… nicely shot… and impossible to sell. The film is not great… but it is good. But in the end, what is it? A coming of age story that doesn’t find itself until the third act, still leaving the first two acts a bit of a shambles… a funny, charming shambles.
I would never tell anyone (under 35) to stay away from The Wackness. It’s a good adult starter reel for Josh Peck. Olivia Thirlby is sexy and intriguing… and underage. But she will be the marketing focus for anyone who buys this thing. Ben Kingsley is quite good as a drugged out therapist who buys his drugs with sessions.
It’s one of those movies whose lovefest I hate to piss on. Well done. But not very special. And in this universe of specialty product, just good ain’t good enough… unless you are being marketed by Nancy Utley.
i read a couple of really good reviews online for the Wackness.
THE WACKNESS was great.
on the foreign language film shortlist, why the need to change the rules because the Academy comittee had the ‘wrong’ opinion? what makes their nine favorite films the opinion that should be discarded/suppressed while the critics and festival favorites are naturally ‘right’ and should be enshrined?
Olivia Thirlby is 21 years old. In Feburary 2008 issue of GQ, she said that she was in Paris for her 21st birthday.
But I agree that Olivia Thirlby is sexy and intriguing!
Dave, your i-phone posts are too infrequent to be of any use. Can you speed it up a little?
The film is not great… but it is good. But in the end, what is it? A coming of age story that doesn’t find itself until the third act, still leaving the first two acts a bit of a shambles… a funny, charming shambles.
They already made a killing on this film. It was called JUNO.