Disappointment of 2018: Beirut
For the record, just because something is a disappointment, it isnt necessarily a bad movie. There may be great performers in it only working with mundane material. Maybe it was lost in editing. Or maybe it just should have been better because of great performers and great directors and great everything and it just doesnt work.
Beirut falls under in this mighty astrix detailed above. The director, Brad Anderson has a few popular titles on his directorial resume including The Machinist, presents a strong visual with fantastic and horrific locations. Anderson shows us the paradise that Lebanon use to be and how quickly it turned to an apocalyptic wasteland.
Tony Gilroy has a fantastic body of work with lots of blockbuster properties that collectively have grossed billions of dollars. I want to say this movie only throws statistic and random political details from the 1970s at you, and those are there, there a few action pieces in here as well, and you feel nothing. You feel no drama. You feel no tension.
This is a movie where you should be going through great anxiety and sweating like youre in Lebanon in July and theres nothing. Theres no gravity. Because this is an original story and not based on any true story or actual events this should have lots of freedom to play in the deep end of 1982 but the water remains shallow as deep as you go.
You have great character actors like Shea Whigham and Mark Pellegrino things just feel two dimensional. Even Jon Hamm who always brings his A-Game just isnt carrying anything. Something about the Smooth Talking Alcoholic with everything to lose doesnt fit this time for some reason. Or maybe its why I never watched Mad Men.
This was Moviepass movie #60. It was a very flip floppy week also seeing Gemini and You Were Never Really Here. One of these movies I loved. The other I despised. Both will also be written about this month. But this April week in 2018 was very emotional, with this movie eliciting ultimately disappointment.
Had this movie had an original review, Id have only given this two out of six blueberries.
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