A good movie

Since I have a weak spot for Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro, I was really eager to check this flick. The other thing that intrigued me was it was Susanne Bier’s first English language feature. All right, I have to admit it, it has been a while since Halle Berry has done anything really interesting (except for ‘Cloud Atlas’) and Del Toro who remains a really impressive actor doesn’t make much movies nowadays and he doesn’t pick up the best ones in my opinion. Eventually, like most of Bier’s work, it was a really strong drama, even if it was still rather flawed. Indeed, the story was really striking about this drug addict losing his only friend and this woman losing the love of her life and the way they stick together to cope with this situation. I’m a real fan of Susanne Bier’s directing and she did a pretty good job here once again, I really loved the focus she put on the characters. The acting was also pretty solid, above all Benicio Del Toro was, as usual, really impressive. Unfortunately, Susanne Bier made the same mistake she did with ‘Brothers’. Indeed, here, you have the same pattern about a character who seems to be lost forever but, miraculously, after some tragic events, he becomes someone great, almost perfect. And the fact that he later has a relapse felt also really plot-driven. Concerning Halle Berry, her character’s behavior was even more erratic, changing every 5 minutes, and just when Del Toro starts to loose it, very conveniently, she gets her sh*t back together in order to save the day. So, the whole thing feels rather contrived at times but there is no denying that the story, the characters and the actors were all compelling to watch. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is a pretty good drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

7/10