A good movie

It has been a while since I saw this flick and I thought it was time for a re-watch. Actually, I’m rather surprised by the low ratings here on Listal and on IMDb as I thought it was a pretty good movie. Back then, Neil LaBute was an upcoming director with a promising future and it’s too bad he never became as good as I hoped but he made some solid features and this movie is definitely a good example. It was also when Renée Zellweger was a rising star and she was definitely on the top of her game at that time. Like I said before, I thought it was a pretty good flick, some kind of quirky dark comedy with loads of fantasy elements and it could have been a Coen Brothers feature. I thought the cast was excellent (Renée Zellweger, Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock, Greg Kinnear, Aaron Eckhart, Crispin Glover, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Elizabeth Mitchell). Even though Zellweger was indeed pretty good and even won a Golden Globe, I was above all impressed by Morgan Freeman. Indeed, it might sound surprising but, in my opinion, it is the best performance he has given in his prestigious career. The point is that even though Freeman always give some solid performances, they are basically always the same character (the wise old man). This time, I thought it was a far more complex character, Freeman was quite fascinating and the chemistry he had with Chris Rock was awesome and often hilarious. About the plot, I enjoyed most of it even though they pushed the fantasy a little too far for my taste. Not only Betty did manage to find her idol but he believed she was some kind of method actress, when it was pretty obvious she was a crazed fan. But it didn’t stop here… He even brought her on the set of the show and, at the end, she even got a part. Of course, since it was a fantasy, everything was possible, I get that, but it still has to remain engaging somehow. Still, there were some brilliant moments, especially when Freeman and Rock were together and I really enjoyed the whole thing. Anyway, to conclude, I really don’t agree with the low ratings, I think it is a very solid dark comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

7/10