Stone Reviews

This is a greatly underappreciated film. It is complex with layers of meaning and subtlety. And I cannot think of another film that so well visualizes the experience of the transcendent. If you want to understand what Grace is, watch this film.

The re-teaming of Norton and De Niro is even less impressive than "The Score". Two notably intense actors phone it in with a story that never really intrigues. Thankfully Jovavich supports the story in possibly her best performance yet. Too bad it will not be remembered, since it's in this mediocre film.

When I heard about this movie, I was thrilled. I mean, come on! A movie starring both Robert De Niro and Edward Norton, it really sounded awesome. But then, when it was released, it received a very lackluster reception so I became rather skeptical. Eventually, it was indeed pretty disappointing. A while back, De Niro and Norton (with Brando! that was an awesome cast) also did together 'The Score' and even though it was also a rather weak movie, at least, it was a fun watch. I wish I could say the same about this flick... I mean, it was not really bad, there was a promising start with a great confrontation between the 2 masters but the development was far from being satisfying. Basically, you have only 4 characters but none of them were properly developed. Above all, Frances Conroy had the most thankless job since she had barely anything to say and just looked really sad during the whole thing. Milla Jovovich had more to chew on with her character and gave honestly one of the best performances but, still, at the end of the movie, I wasn't sure what was going on with this woman. Robert De Niro gave also a solid performance, I mean, he always does even if the movie stinks but it was the same thing with Jovovich, you never got the opportunity to know him, to understand his predicament. Eventually, Norton was the biggest disappointment. His performance was not bad but it reminded me of 'American History X', one of the most overrated movies in my opinion. Indeed, pretty much in the same way, Norton starts really convincingly but, somehow, his character completely changes and the transformation was way too hard to swallow. Here, he started as a trash-talking convict, than became really depressed and finally ended up as some kind of mystical guy... Still, even though the whole thing was rather poorly written, I still can't really dismiss this flick. Indeed, the beginning was pretty strong and they were some good ideas out there, it's just too bad it didn't really work. To conclude, it is nothing really amazing but I still think it is worth a look though, especially if you are interested in the actors involved.

Filmmaking 101 has a rule; wait, Art 101 has a rule: Know your genre. A drama can have comic relief, but that works only in the framework of the genre that's been established. Comedies can have their dramatic, emotional moments, but if they then turn into dramas, audiences are confused and disappointed. If a screenwriter and director can't even tell their story competently within the confines of the genre they first set up, their movie will fail.

Yes, Stone is well acted. So what? Do you go to the movies to see good acting class exercises? If so, check this movie out. Norton and De Niro are entertaining, early on at least, and there's sharp dialog they have to work with (how else could they do their jobs? Don't you love people who praise the acting without acknowledging the script?)

But the story – the real reason most of us venture out to see a film – in Stoner is a mess. The movie starts off essentially as a thriller. The plot sets up a con working a con, with his sexy wife, on a prison case officer. But after putting the movie is thriller mode the movie then tries to be a drama about the meaning of life and presence of God. The movie tries to turn its main plot with the wife into a subplot, and then pretend that fun, salacious venture wasn't really what the movie wanted to deal with. No, let's talk about the meaning of life.

Stone, then, is a disappointment. Even as a drama it fails: the story dissipates into ambiguity with regard to the final action. POVs have jumped around all throughout the movie but in not showing us the final resolution between Stone and his wife, the whole fulcrum of the movie is left blank. As for the transformation of Stone – something Norton tries to act by occasionally calming his voice and widening his eyes – it's unbelievable, not fully formed or demonstrated and, like the rest of the movie, a pretentious attempt to take a fun dime-store novel's story and make it profound.

Don't waste your time or money with this one. If you have to see it, wait for video. The movie is shot in TV-like close-ups for the most part and it will play just as well there.