Brilliant

The mixed reviews don't surprised me; you can tell in the first five minutes that it's not going to be a film for everyone. For the most part I can't judge those who dislike it; there have been some good points made in the criticisms (barring the juvenile sophomoric pinheads who like to poop on everything because it makes them feel smart. But of course they speak for themselves...).

But for me? This is my favorite brand of indie movie. It's not overly derivative, it has a voice and it has something to say. It's thoughtful and just provocative enough to be interesting.

The pacing of this film is hypnotic and lyrical. I love the way the dialog is so perfectly disjointed yet...FULL. Despite the many criticisms here of Penn's performance, I think it's magnificent. I don't care about how many aging rock stars may or may not be like Cheyenne, I only care that Cheyenne is a beautifully rendered character who has found a kind of simplistic but profound and sad wisdom in his older years. Penn captures him perfectly.

The cinematography is gorgeous- I love the framing of so many shots. The set design and art direction are also wonderful. The use of color is jarring and gives you an odd sense of surrealism. The overexposure and heightened contrast in many scenes lent a dreamlike quality that really added to the film's emotional fragmented and attenuated nature.

(Yeah, I see my overuse of superlatives here, but reading back I think they should stand.)

One last thing: it's rare to find a movie that finds that perfect blend of humor and melancholy, but if you find one? You can bet your bootie that Frances McDormand is in the cast. I'd watch her in anything.

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Movies are IQ tests. The IMDB boards are each person's opportunity to broadcast their score.