Two years ago Dustin Lance Black wrote a screenplay for a little movie called Milk, and it kind of went over well with the Academy. Two years later, Black's latest, which he also directs, is opening in at the TIFF in hopes of finding a distributor. Unfortunately, if these first reviews are any indication, there could be quite a bit wrong with "Virginia."
Cinema Blend's Katey Rich is mixed on the film, and says that it is "all over the place in every imaginable way...vacillating wildly from camp to melodrama to harsh satire and back again." However, she's kind to the performances, particularly Jennifer Connelly's weave, about whom she writes, "Connelly has rarely looked more fragile or dangerous," and calls the performance "her best work in years."
Slightly less kind is The Hollywood Reporter's Michael Rechtshaffen, who summarizes the film as "an unfortunately curdled misfire." He gives no praise (or criticism) to the performances, but repeatedly takes Black's tone to task, and says that the film is "tonally all over the place" and that "what's wrong with Virginia is small potatoes compared to what's wrong with this film." Howard Feinstein at Screen Daily continues in the same vein, and says that while the film starts out with promise, "the screenplay becomes as overloaded as a packed rollercoaster, testing the viewer's patience along the way and offering little in the way of pay off."
Additional Reviews: [awaiting]
Toronto Verdict: [awaiting]
No comments:
Post a Comment