Eye Candy (you put the flavor)

This movie is all about form and not so much about substance. That´s not such a bad thing, mind you. Movies are not only shot to tell stories and develop characters, this is shot only to create emotions and offer eye candy. And it succeeds.

The main character is only a hero, a cold, distant, cool and nice kind of antihero to describe him better. He is not a real person, he doesnt come from anywhere, he just exists waiting for the story to come to him and plays it off till the end as if he didn´t care. The 'girl' is more human but not really believable, it´s just an excuse for the camera to shoot good scenes (she is lovable enough to interest you though). The bad guys, the supporting cast, every other character involved in this film are just bodies to recieve the carefully studied lighting while wearing the correct colors for the shot.

I repeat: this is not such a bad thing. They choose two things to work on and they work hard on them. The first one, the eye candy, is really well executed. The photography of Newton Thomas Sigel is bright in colors and deep in shadows. It´s not the kind of cinematography to use if you want it to feel real but that´s not the intention here in any possible way so it works better than fine.

The other element they try to explote is emotions. The movie doesnt tell us an original story, it doesn't even try. The film could have told the same in half an hour if that would have been the intention and it wouldn´t have felt rushed. No, they try to give the intensity of a thriller and the profundity of a tragedy while making us feel repulsed by gritty violence.

It´s a lie, a well executed one. The film only presents the situations and lets the spectators to transfer their own emotions into the movie filling all the gaps themselves. The tense/romantic music and the long takes are the frame for your own feelings to make the movie personal. I think that´s the reason it has had such a good reception in general. That and the eye candy.

All in all I dont think it´s a bad movie. It has some memorable moments, it´s original (and only that is much appreciated) and it´s really well executed. I guess I just don´t love pretty violence so much to give it more than a 7/10.

7/10