FilmVomit

I’ve been trying to figure out what my problem was with this film. It’s gorgeous, absolutely. The story is charming, well-executed for the most part (though it lost track of itself at the end), full of quirky reflexivity and generally fitting into the same category as most films I enjoy. And yet, it felt lacking somehow. There is a certain self-consciousness to the film that makes it quaver where it ought to have conviction- a feeling that it, or Tarsem at least, is uncertain of its own charm and thus layers things on too thickly. Things get a bit heavy handed and gimmicky in places where they shouldn’t, and hold back in others when a bit of drama would be called for. And the last reel and a half, starting with the direct theft of the Brothers Quay’s Street of Crocodiles, is a bit unfortunate. Tarsem quoted the Quays in The Cell, quite effectively and with a great deal of love, so I am certain he meant no disrespect, but what he has done here is nothing short of plagiarism.
I suppose the real truth here is that I wanted to love this film, and I couldn’t. I was stuck at really liking it.