The Shape of Things Reviews

Since I always had a weak spot for Neil LaBute's work, I was really eager to check this flick. Ever since he made the really misguided remake of 'The Wicker Man' with Nicolas Cage, his career has been pretty disappointing but it's a real shame because his movies so far were actually pretty good and this one starring Paul Rudd and Rachel Weisz is a fine example. Obviously, you can see right away that it was an adaptation of a play but I didn't mind. I actually really enjoyed the fact that it was solely based on acting, characters and dialogues, instead of CGI, explosions or action scenes. In fact, it reminded me of 'In the company of men', in the sense that he shows how twisted the human mind can be. Eventually, it was not as a good as 'In the company...' because, even though the plot was quite interesting, it was a little too far-fetched for my taste. I mean, this time, if you told me that this story was based on some real people and events, I would be really skeptical and this unrealistic aspect diminished the impact of this movie. Still, in spite of its flaws, it remains an interesting picture and it is definitely worth a look.

I liked this movie at first. I enjoyed the quirky relationship. Then as the movie progressed, I started liking all of the characters less (which, I think, is the movie's desired effect). Finally, I didn't like how it ended. I can see the point that they were trying to make, but it didn't resolve in a manner that redeemed the movie for me.