MovieChat Forums > Collaborator (2012) Discussion > Excellent film by Martin Donovan!

Excellent film by Martin Donovan!

posted 12 years ago by tudazwoman-0-357444
4 replies | jump to latest

My DC film club previewed this movie this morning. The acting by all the players was spot on. I walked away having tremendous empathy for "Gus" -- the neighbor who still lived with his mom played by Sean Penn's mom. This was the neighbor who had developmental challenges (he still called everyone "dude"), was pushed through high school and eventually cheated for his diploma but fiercely patriotic to his country. His "prey" was the successful former neighbor across the street (Robert) who attained professional heights Gus would never see and who believed his older brother died in Viet Nam for nothing. Did I mention Robert was a user -- a user of women and to some extent this neighborhood experience as no doubt he would use this experience in future work.

What really pissed me off was the scene of the two moms and a neighbor sitting on a bench watching the events unfold and Robert's mother said, "Well, they come out the way they come out" -- absolving herself of responsibility for the final outcome -- not her problem -- she did her part in birthing one of the men. That struck me as extraordinary.

[–] crayonzero 12 years ago

I reply just to say that I agree. It was a great film. Thoroughly enjoyed it and it only improved as it progressed.
The two mothers did add an element, but the part that struck me the most was the final "interview". Excellently written and moving.

stopchasingyourtail

[–] god-zeus 11 years ago

I can't say i feel empathy for Gus. But i did find him a highly functional idiot.
Still, that's just me. Here are the things i down right disagree with you.
Robert is not a "user". I feel that comment is coming from a woman that was hurt to some extent by a person with whom she now identifies with Robert. And this isn't like you base this on the evidence of his betrayals but of his relationship with women. I find that excellent BTW. Robert is no one's prey, let alone Guses. You could make an argument how by the end Gus was his intellectual prey but that's just about it.
About the old birds sitting by the house scene. I had no problems with that. Even if you don't agree with it (again i think you are compering this to something from your life) you can say it was authentic. Something that's usually missing from films like this.

Anyhoo. I liked this film. Then again i love these sorts of films. Not sure if there is a category for it. I gave The Sunset Limited a 10, I gave Carnage a 10 but gave this an 9. I wish it could be a ten too. Not sure if it was because Gus was a bit to stupid then he should be. Probably because i was never drawn into the discussion between the two of them. Or well i should say; there was never a deep discussion to get drawn in. Still this was fun. Reminded on on how hot i find Olivia Williams :D

I do hope they keep making more films like this.

EDIT: Also i find the gun thing stupid. How do u miss that?
I'm a stickler for detail :D

~zeus~

[–] tim-dalinian-jones 11 years ago

I agree with you all that 'Collaborator' is one grand film. Since I have fond memories of enjoying Martin Donovan's acting performances in Hal Hartly's indie movies in the 90s, I'm soooo pleased that his début as writer/director lives up to the high standard set by Hal's oeuvre.

[SPOILER ALERT: best see the film first afore reading what's written below.]

As “they” say, and as Robert Longfellow (Martin Donovan) states explicitly, a writer should write about her/his own experiences. That Martin chooses to shine a light on that authorial life-experience-harvesting process adds another delicious layer of self-deprecating humour to this witty pic.

The three elder women onna bench struck me as a knowing and comic gender-inverted nod to the classical tradition of the Greek chorus, as spectators commenting on the drama unfolding before them. Even though they try to intervene with a phone call, alas, it is to no avail!

I agree with zeus that, on the evidence presented in the film, it's unfair to characterise Robert as a “user” of women; a flawed character, perhaps (and aren't we all?), but not a user. He may be moving towards estrangement from his wife and children, but it seems more than likely that his hostage experience will lead him away from an (unconsummated) affair with Emma (Olivia Williams) and back towards valuing his family. I also had little sympathy with Gus (David Morse), although the double-standard contrast with Robert's elder brother could have been made more explicit, for my taste: the former kills two men ad hoc in the USA, is rightly reviled as a murderer, and is (wrongly) shot dead by a state-employed gunman; meanwhile the latter became a state-employed gunman, killed ten times as many people or more in Viet Nam, and is lauded as a (US nationist's) hero.

@zeus: “I find the gun thing stupid. How do u miss that? I'm a stickler for detail :D”

Did you mean...
(A) Gus's pistol barrel shown protruding from the slider after he shot the phone, indicating an empty gun and magazine; or
(B) The cop sniper, having seen through his scope that Gus had properly disarmed his pistol and himself, fails to make a disabling shot on a stationary target (eg: right shoulder), but kills Gus with a head shot; or
(C) Something else that I missed?

I'm hoping Martin will continue developing his talent as a writer/director/actor, and I give 'Collaborator' 9/10 stars.

PS: thanks for the pointer to 'The Sunset Limited'; I'm looking forward to enjoying it shortly.

[–] sturmv 11 years ago

It's a very underrated movie, I think. Definitely deserves a higher rating. I also didn't see Robert as an user. Also, I couldn't agree more with his opinions on war which perhaps made me somewhat biased.