An average movie

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, I was quite eager to check it out. When the movie started, I noticed that it was written by Hubert Selby Jr. who also wrote ‘Requiem for a Dream’, probably one of my favorite movies, so, these two guys working together was really promising. Well, the importance of VHS really displayed how much have changed in the last 20 years. We have been so accustomed to HD images even with the smallest screens but, obviously, it was not always like that and it was rather weird to see the main character inspecting for hours this surveillance footage which did seem to be actually rather unwatchable. Concerning the rest of the movie, well, to be honest, it wasn’t really a pleasant watch. Indeed, there was such a heavy claustrophobic and paranoid vibe and, sometimes, it did feel like watching a David Lynch movie. Sure, there is nothing wrong with all that but it is an acquired taste. However, the biggest issue as far as I was concerned was that the pacing was so sluggish. Seriously, even if the running time was only 90 mins, it felt like forever to end which is never a good sign. At least, John Turturro, who was playing some kind of cousin of Barton Fink, was pretty good, even if the material he was provided was actually rather thin. On the other hand, the lovely Deborah Kara Unger was basically born to play in such enigmatic features but you wish she was given more to do than showing up only in a handful scenes. Unfortunately for Refn, this movie was a big flop when it was released and it almost completely derailed his career. As a result, he decided to make some sequels to his directorial debut, ‘Pusher’, something he actually never intended to do in the first place. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Nicolas Winding Refn’s work.

6/10