MovieChat Forums > Beginners (2011) Discussion > My god...I couldn't even finish this fil...

My god...I couldn't even finish this film

posted 12 years ago by cellapie
31 replies | jump to latest

I was really looking forward to seeing this film, esp. after all the awards Christopher Plummer has been receiving. So I popped it in my DVD player the night after the Golden Globes....and popped it out after about 40 mins and back into the Netflix envelope.

What was this movie supposed to be? Rom-com? Coming out story? Fantasy? The "meet cute" with the French actress was too contrived, the constant shifting from present to distant past to recent past was jarring and did not advance the story. But when we get subtitles of what the dog was thinking? I was done with it.

"You know me Marge, I like my beer cold, my TV loud, and my homosexuals fa-LAM-ing!"

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] usernumber655321 12 years ago

No. It is a movie that thinks it is 'sophisticated'. That is why it is horrible. Pretentious swill for uppity rich folks.

[–] prpreobrazensky 12 years ago

^^
A comment from a person who likes to think that he knows what sopisticated means.
As for TS I pity you. Maybe you should really stick with Transformers movies.

[–] usernumber655321 12 years ago

See? Uppity rich folks. ^^^

Deny it, I dare you too.

[–] prpreobrazensky 12 years ago

^^ haha! look WHO lives in a glass house!

[–] usernumber655321 12 years ago

Well, at least you didn't deny that you're 'uppity rich folks'.

[–] prpreobrazensky 12 years ago

same goes to you, folk

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] me-nyc 10 years ago

Why should that be denied? Should we feel shame for being that?

[–] clever-username 12 years ago

You could make an SNL skit by simply writing the words "White People Problems" then showing any scene from this movie.

[–] forksforrests 11 years ago

LOL

[–] jordifan 12 years ago

I agree - wanted to see this movie very much, and I turned it off about the same time you did. If they would have stuck to just telling the story about the father and the son, and nothing else, it would have been a better film. The girlfriend, the subtitled dog, the sad/weird cartoons were just too much.

And I don't watch Jackass OR Transformers. (Why put someone down because they simply say they don't like a film?)

[–] Glock22 12 years ago

(Why put someone down because they simply say they don't like a film?)

This film is pretty sophisticated indeed. I never put anyone down no matter what they think, but I agree with the harsh response the OP received simply because you can't watch 40 minutes of a film then come and lecture us. At the very least he should have finished it like any objective critic would do, then I'd have been more than happy to see him calling it $hit had he wanted to.

[–] melinda2001 9 years ago

40 minutes can be more than enough to have an opinion. I wish it would have saved me from wasting the time.

[–] grapeape67 12 years ago

I wanted to see this film to see what the hype was all about. Plummer is the ONLY interesting character, besides the dog. The rest was, sorry to say, boring...

[–] WarpedRecord 12 years ago

You missed nothing at all in the remaining 104 minutes. This unfortunately is what a lot of indies have come to: random stories and scenes at the expense of a coherent plot and well-developed characters. I think the subtitled dog and narration with the images of everyday items were affectations that distracted from the characters' connections and tensions, neither of which rang true with me.

Chistopher Plummer will very likely win the Oscar for best supporting actor this weekend, and to his credit, he's done much better work in much better films. I'll be generous and give this 5/10 stars.

[–] travelingnome 12 years ago

it was in my opinion, 40 minutes too long. whenever Christopher plummer was on screen he shined, but the romance between ewan and Laurent could have been cut or shortened. after she moved in and their relationship hit the skids the movie just stopped and had issues moving forward. it was boring. if they had done highlights and shown he was able to move on and began to move on with his life, the move would have been better.

I also do not like transformers or jackass. and I think that it is childish to think that if someone does not agree with you then they do not have any valid point.

"Tara: Stop with that treachery! I told the cat. And now I beg my mother sitting all alone."

[–] Groveful 12 years ago

"I think that it is childish to think that if someone does not agree with you then they do not have any valid point"

Agreed. I wonder why it is that anytime I stumble onto someone saying they didn't like a movie, someone else always has to resort to saying: well why not stick to *insert lousy movie*...

[–] ShoeBuckle 12 years ago

I only made it twenty minutes. At least you stuck it out. The dog has subtitles later in the film? Seriously? This film is so morbid. The lead actor's character seems very full of himself.

[–] modestaustin811 12 years ago

To each their own I guess...

I thought the movie was awesome and pretty touching, loved the relationship between Ewan McGregor and Melanie Laurent.

I thought it was a great story and done very well, I connected with it.

[–] BadSurge 12 years ago

What was this movie supposed to be? Rom-com? Coming out story? Fantasy?

How would you know if you stopped watching after 40 minutes? Why should you?
I finish every movie I watch to completely understand why I don't like it.
You should finish it, find out, then come back and talk about it.

The "meet cute" with the French actress was too contrived, the constant shifting from present to distant past to recent past was jarring and did not advance the story. But when we get subtitles of what the dog was thinking? I was done with it.

I appreciate how objective this post is. It isn't antagonistic or aggressive, just confused.
I'd suggest re-watching, noting the rhythm, discovering what the real setting is so the flashbacks are easier to distinguish. Try to understand what a damaged, confused soul MacGregor's character was, how he could have easily imagined responses for the dog, and live in a world of memories he can't quite make sense of.

It's truly too bad you didn't finish this film.

[–] DooleyNoted 12 years ago

Awesome and thoughtful response, tbg -- oh, yeah, and dignified. The movie does ask a lot of the viewer (something rare in popular entertainment these days) and you have to be in the mood to go with it, to let it sink it. For some, that's going to CLICK! and be just fine -- with others it won't.

My wife and I are neither uppity nor rich (nor all too smart, for that matter!) and often feast on less demanding faire. But we dug this. Quirks and all.

btw: I regularly channel my dog's thoughts -- and was delighted to see it here. The trick is... it's not really the DOG's thoughts, it's the owners. At least it's that way with me.

Cheers, all!

[–] QcLoser 12 years ago

I agree witht he OP the movie was just dreadful, i cant believe my tv guide listed this as a comedy

[–] eliel77 12 years ago

I tried this with my girlfriend, trusting the ratings and reviews here, but come one, this was very boring, I fell asleep sometimes but even my girlfriend who watched it fully didnt really liked it, kind of an average indie movie being praised for the sake of being cool.

Jacarutu!
http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=20186983

[–] brockmeeks 12 years ago

I thought it was boring too. Without EM & CP's preformances I don't think I would have finished it.

[–] djsnafu23 12 years ago

Out of 2500 odd films I've watched the last few years this was one of only 3-4 that I had to switch off half-way through. Insufferable. Go watch some Rohmer maybe if you wanna see this done well.

....

http://soundcloud.com/dj-snafu-bankrupt-euros

Coz lifes too short to listen to Madlib

[–] Strazdamonas 12 years ago

I made it to the end. and you missed nothing, nothing interesting happens in the whole movie.

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