An average movie

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was starring Jesse Eisenberg and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, the tone was really dreary and rather depressing. There was such an oppressive and claustrophobic mood. On top of that, the protagonist was rather unlikeable so this movie was definitely a rather hard sell. I was also rather annoyed by the fact that the guy would choose to neglect his cute pregnant girlfriend to hang out with a bunch of dudes he barely knew and who after all had very little to offer him. At the end of the day, he was probably one of the most confused characters I have seen but, unfortunately, I never thought that he and his journey were really interesting. I think it did reflect the confusing times that we live in though. Indeed, if you are white, male, hetero (okay, in his case maybe not) and were born in a Western country, you have pretty much some endless opportunities. However, you are also bombarded, even assaulted, by a constant flow of information about beauty, sex, power, money, possessions… If you are lucky, you will be surrounded with love and kindness in your youth and you will be then able to filter most of it. However, it was probably not the case with the main character who struggled so much with his self-esteem and his identity. Eventually, it was still an intriguing watch for a couple of reasons. The main reason was that Jesse Eisenberg was pretty good, playing a character really different than what he did in the past, and his performance was so intense, it was actually borderline nauseating. What also worked was how completely unpredictable it was, especially during the last act. It did reflect the chaotic state of mind of the character and there were a couple of times when I was gasping at the screen. For example, to end up with Gheorghe Muresan as some wise retirement home worker was one hell of a curveball. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was a decent watch but it was so dark, I’m not sure if I really recommend it though.

6/10