MovieChat Forums > Man in the Chair (2008) Discussion > awful movie - minor spoilers

awful movie - minor spoilers

posted 16 years ago by donarangio
19 replies | jump to latest

To quote Plummer early on in the film, "You can't polish a
turd." Michael Schroeder managed to bungle almost every aspect of this
film. While Plummer gave a decent performance, most of the other actors
were worthless, especially the younger cast. They were fed terrible
lines, which were often overacted. The screenplay is a clear indication
of how out of touch Schroeder happens to be.

The worst, however, lies in the editing and cinematography. This movie
is riddled with poor camera work and sickening jump cuts, which
cheapens the production and lends to the laughability of this film.

Don't buy into the hype on these boards - half the user comments and board posts are spam. Read some real reviews here - http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/maninthechair

[–] larry-411 16 years ago

You said: "Don't buy into the hype on these boards - half the user comments and board posts are spam."

What's funny is that almost all the posts here are links to reviews and articles about the film. They are not "user comments." Spam is someone saying the same thing over and over again.

If most of the posts here were people talking about how much they loved the film, you might have a point. But most are simply links to reviews. Anyone who glances at this board can see that.

Anyone is entitled to their opinion and I respected it until I got to the end. But you blew it with that one line because it is so obviously untrue. Nice try.

-----------------------------
The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe.

[–] donarangio 16 years ago

okay, i'll give you that, you posted the good reviews.

now; the bad ones:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/maninthechair

a 45 on metacritic. oops.

and those are some well respected reviews, including variety, ny times, etc.

try a reply that counters my allegations of the movie being unwatchable because of the following reasons: acting, cinematography, soundtrack, and editing. can't wait to see how many awards this wins!

all i'm saying is all of these user accounts look like the studio trying to game IMDB. there's no way it should top a 6 on the moviemeter.

[–] larry-411 16 years ago

Just as an FYI -- I wasn't the one who posted the good reviews. Not most of them, anyway. Those were other people.

That said, there's something funny about Metacritic. Because on Rotten Tomatoes, Variety and The New York Times are listed under the good reviews, along with other "Cream of the Crop" (their term) outlets like The Hollywood Reporter, the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and New York Observer. It has a 58% in the Cream of the Crop section. That's still almost 4 out of 5 good reviews, no matter how you cut it. And I'm not going to start pasting quotes in here.

So you fit into the 1 out of 5 who didn't like it. Hey, even Raging Bull didn't get a 100% on RT. It got an 88% C of the C. Crash had a 75% rating and it won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Yet 25% of the critics did NOT like it.

I could go on, but I won't. Bottom line: you're in the distinct minority depending on what gauge you use. Even if you accept the 45% number that still means almost half the critics liked it. Oops right back atcha.

You can discount IMDb comments or you can discount reviews if you want but you can't discount both and maintain any credibility.

-----------------------------
The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe.

[–] Nick_Dets 16 years ago

Reviews aside, the OP is right...this is a truly awful excuse for a movie.

[–] id-entity 15 years ago

I agree. It was hokey in the extreme... and I say that as an avid Plummer fan.

[–] LostHighway101 16 years ago

Hold on a sec. What exactly is your tie to the movie, because I would seriously laugh if you said you were just a fan who really loved this movie judging by how many spammy posts you have on this message boards. I love commenting on my favorite movies, but I dont go around posting good reviews for them on IMDB, people can find them for themselves. You're not fooling anyone, dude.

I don't mean to impose, but I am the ocean.

[–] kberia 16 years ago

Those who CAN'T Write, Direct or Act Become Critics.
They like to criticize what they are incapable of doing.
And if they were a critic worth listening to they would have a better outlet such as the television, or a NOTABLE publication.

[–] larry-411 16 years ago

To LostHighway 101:

Who is your post directed at?

You're funny. Sorry, but I'm a journalist who specializes in film festivals and independent films. I attended over 12 film festivals in 2007 at which I saw over 200 movies. I saw 175 in 2006. Need proof? Here you go:

Here is my blog:
http://www.pronetworks.org/Media.php

Or go here:
http://www.pronetworks.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=213

You can easily see that I have 620 blog posts just going back to the end of 2006. My normal routine is to attend a festival, see as many films as I can, pick my favorites, and then follow their progress. This was one of those films.

For example, I just saw 23 films in Santa Barbara and picked 6. I will now follow those films. I saw 20 films in Toronto and picked 5. etc. etc. That's what I do. I'm also syndicated and about a half dozen film sites post my articles and reviews and festival coverage.

And way to go thinking you have the right to speak for others. I've been doing this for years, and there are thousands of posts on IMDb thanking people for posting good reviews of the films they like. Obviously if they could "find them for themselves" they wouldn't be coming here and thanking anyone.

You're not fooling anyone, dude.

============

To kberia: Bravo.

-----------------------------
The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe.

[–] LostHighway101 16 years ago

yeah you're right, that was needlessly d*ckish and i'm sorry for being presumptuous. But the movie still sucks and I can't believe anyone thinks this bomb is worth promoting. Roger Ebert definitely summed up why this movie is an irrelevant mess...

I don't mean to impose, but I am the ocean.

[–] writers_reign 16 years ago

I don't NEED to read the reviews you're directing me to because I'm just about to write my own, having seen the film yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. I found none of the flaws you mentioned, several of which I DID find in that over-hyped movie of semi-amateur Jean-Luc Godard, Breathless aka Brainless.
'Chair' was an excellent film with one outstanding performance backed up by first-class ensemble work. On the other hand everyone is entitled to an opinion and that includes you but it also includes me.

[–] youngerthanbuck 15 years ago

I'm sorry this is awful for you to watch. You must be still thinking you're up there. When you open your eyes to realise your limp body dangling below, do call out for me. I'll be there too. We all will be. We all are.

[–] MartianTom 14 years ago

Yep... I have to agree with you. I can't see why this film has got such a high rating and has won awards. The characterisations are shallow and inconsistent, the script is awkward and the direction... well, those flashy jump cuts are just stupid, distracting and annoying. The strain of sentimentality was a bit too much for me, too. After an hour, I did a quick scan of the remainder, and it seemed pretty predictable. Lousy film.

The answer is never the answer. What's really interesting is the mystery.

[–] dark_angelpv 14 years ago

i totaly agree with you, this movie is poor in a lot of sences.

[–] andrew_d14 13 years ago

i agree, this movie blows

[–] scarlettsdad 12 years ago

I don't think the movie was terrible nor the performances poor, but I have to say I'm just not seeing the birth of our Savior that an awful lot of the other posters on here are, along with the critical postings included. With all due respect, it was necessary for me to go to the extent of placing half of the posters on here on ignore so I could weed out the actual discussions on the movie versus the promotional bumps. I do believe this could have been edited better, and for the life of me I'm not sure what the importance of all those shots of bus riding meant--although I did finally make the assumption that the annoying "flashes" were in regards to Flash. But they were still annoying. I did want to like this movie more than I did because I admire Christopher Plummer, and I think he did an excellent job. But it still didn't make up for an ultimately uneven, jerky, dull story.

Signatures annoy me.

[–] jac91604 12 years ago

I thought it was a very original idea.

An old man from the Golden Age of Hollywood, a young kid who has an interest in old movies and making films, it was refreshing.

I guess some people need explosions and violence to hold their attention.

Wasn't perfect, but it was good.

[–] Eric-1226 12 years ago

Wasn't perfect, but it was good.

My sentiments exactly.

I would recommend people read Rober Ebert's review, though, just for balance. He was quite negative towards this film, but, he did make some intelligent observations that helped me appreciate the film - and the film industry - a little better.

In spite of the overall disjointedness of the film, I think there were lots of memorable moments and memorable quotes, many of which I took the liberty of adding to the Memorable Quotes page.

[–] jac91604 12 years ago

My problem with Ebert's review is he questions whether or not Plummer's character actually worked in the film industry.

Well you can't live in the Motion Picture home unless you worked in film or TV.

So that was a ridiculous comment for him to make.

Ebert also resented elderly people being portrayed as feeble and ill, well sadly that is what you see in nursing homes.

JMO, but I think his own health issues make him sensitive to this type of stuff.

I thought it was a sweet, touching film about an unlikely friendship.

[–] eviljonny1 9 years ago

I agree. 10 minutes in and I want to turn it off. But I also want to see Plummer's performance so I'll suffer through some of the worst acting I have even seen. Im talking about every second of every scene from the first 10 minutes at the high school. I thought I had clicked on a cheesy over the top teen movie by accident. WTF?! I was literally grimacing. Lets hope it gets better.