MovieChat Forums > In a World... (2013) Discussion > So overrated

So overrated

posted 11 years ago by le_samourai_delon
47 replies | jump to latest

Saw this at Sundance and could not believe the praise it was getting - even more shocked that she won the screenwriting award. This movie has moments of minor charms, but it is really all over the place - it's about fathers, daughters, husbands, wives, the voiceover industry, gender politics, new love - and it never comes together into a coherent picture. It hints at all these different dramas but never really commits to any one story with depth or specificity - the husband/wife storyline rings particularly hollow, going through all these Big! Dramatic! Beats without ever really feeling like a genuine relationship between two real people. The father/daughter relationship feels similarly hackneyed. There is almost no cinematic style to speak of, it's all talk. I don't know, I suppose if you like movies like "The Brothers McMullen," this might be for you - just another self-consciously kooky independent movie about a bunch of people talking their way through awkward relationships. It's totally in love itself. And despite being "independent," it is very by-the-numbers. Geena Davis pops in for an absurd scene.

[–] mattyj2001 11 years ago

I think it commits pretty well to the main character's want to be successful at the 'family business', so to speak. Everything else is a true, real part of her life.

The film truly does give you exactly one perspective, that of the main character. Life is messy and has a lot of moving parts. They don't delve too deeply into her sister's marriage because from her perspective, it's not as important to her focus. The story is about her, not her sister, but situations arise in her day-to-day life.

In some ways the movie had a very narrow focus.

I was entertained, that's for sure.

[–] Movie-Jay 11 years ago

I laughed out loud a good 6-8 times, I'll admit, but I can't call it a good movie.

It's kind of stupid, actually. It gets all melodramatic in a really trite way about a couple we could care less about. And it makes dad a totally cruel idiot for nothing.

Plays like a sitcom, and not even that great of one.

All the romance stuff between all the characters just seemed false.

Just follow voice work people at what they do! Why couldn't it do that? It's like it didn't trust that material and jams in all the usual romantic-dramedy crap.

Some nice zingers, but the screenplay suffers from putting too much in that doesn't matter instead of actually listening to its characters.

[–] freemanpatrick7 11 years ago

Plays like a sitcom, and not even that great of one.

What pray tell is a "great sit-com"? Certainly nothing produced in this millennium.

[–] Movie-Jay 11 years ago

It feels like the pilot of an HBO series, but not that great of one. Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm would be about the closest things to "great", while this movie is a couple notches below that kind of stuff.

[–] freemanpatrick7 11 years ago

I don't know. I quit watching sit-coms when I realized that laugh track was the only one laughing. And that was some time after the Cosby show went off the air.

[–] zetes 11 years ago

You're an idiot. There are plenty of great sitcoms on right now, and not one of them has a laugh track (The Big Bang Theory is decent and has one). Just to note: Parks & Recreation, 30 Rock, Happy Endings, New Girl, Modern Family, Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23, Community and probably several others I am forgetting.

My God! He has the worst sangria mouth I've ever seen on a non-Spaniard!

[–] yojimboy 11 years ago

Having a different opinion from you does not an idiot make, churlish one.

[–] BuckyMcGuinness 11 years ago

No, that dude was definitely an idiot. There are plenty of great sitcoms on now and because of the variety available there are more on now at the same time than at any time before. And even if that weren't so, the "I don't like sitcoms because they have laugh tracks and I'm sophisticated" thing is an argument that a pretentious 14-year-old makes.

[–] yojimboy 11 years ago

I would rather have a conversation with that 14-year-old.

[–] BuckyMcGuinness 11 years ago

Hahaha, what a Kevin Smith fan.

[–] ClintJCL 10 years ago

I wouldn't.

-ClintJCL
http://clintjcl.wordpress.com/category/reviews/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintjcl

[–] noit-all 10 years ago

[–] iamnotnjs 11 years ago

Lol no, but you tried.

[–] shempXIV 11 years ago

re: What pray tell is a "great sit-com"?

HERE ARE a few:

M*A*S*H
All in the Family
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Just Shoot Me
I Love Lucy
Frasier
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Honeymooners
The Job
Buffalo Bill
The Munsters
Good Times
One Day at a Time
Hogan's Heroes (hey, it had its moments)
The Beverly Hillbillies

Any of these ring a bell?

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] dealey52 10 years ago

Another "Mikey' heard from.

[–] retiredwire 11 years ago

The fact that this movie is getting so much praise shocks me. It's all over the place and feels like a made-for-TV film. Why does this deserve a screenwriting award?

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Angryheart 11 years ago

the only thing overrated is your username. I can't read this post.

[–] iainhammer 11 years ago

Batmanforevernever, eh? There's a name to conjure with. Do let me know how many movies you have written AND directed, AND in which you have simultaneously played the lead role... ? Come on. Don't be coy.

[–] antonymartin 11 years ago

I didn't realise those were the criteria necessary in order to hold an opinion about a movie! I guess you also can't be critical of a book unless you're a published author?

[–] sedektirdoff777 10 years ago

When people don't have talent and get everything through family connections they get churlish when they don't get praise. This is why these pro In a world trolls are so over the top hostile to criticism. All you see with the Lake Bells of the world is her using her connections to Nick Kroll to go far fast and with little to offer, judging by the reviews here. Reviews in many seemingly legitimate publications are really hungry freelancers doing what Mary Cudahe in the Atlantic wouldn't do when approached by Kroll.

If Bell does have anything to offer she'd be advised to distance herself from the cancer that this Nick Kroll. Speaking of cancer, Nick recently set up a cancer scam with soon to awarded with a grammy, tig notaro. That's how powerful and influential is this guy and his father Jules.

[–] bagarnbakarskor 10 years ago

How is any of this surprising? It is the way Hollywood has always been run, and everyone with a smidgeon of perceptiveness knows who by. Hell, they are so secure in their position by now that they are actually quite open with it, even going so far as to making it the punchline of gleeful jokes. On the other hand, who am I to judge, since I'd have done exactly the same thing if I could. After all, those who cannot be named have been the engineers of this monstrous machine going on nigh a century now, so I guess they've earned themselves the right to laud mediocrity and play the nepotism game to an absurd degree. It is their business and they can do what they want with it. That's not to say I wish it weren't so, but wishes aren't horses, are they?

On a related note I have to confess that I've always rather liked "Bell", so I can live with her getting plaudits, be they unearned or no.

I am, by the way, aware that I come off as somewhat of a conspiracy cook. Doesn't mean I'm wrong. In fact, the evidence proving me right is so glaringly ubiquitous I can't even be bothered to reference any of it.

Bigot: One who is obstinately and zealously attached to an opinion that you do not entertain.

[–] KnifeStrauzen 11 years ago

This is exactly why I respect Tommy Wiseau.

[–] threadman80 11 years ago

I enjoyed the film, but I think the reason it's gets an inordinate amount of credit is:

I dislike the term *it girl* but Lake Bell does seem to be someone who is connected, and that critics like

It's an unusual subject matter for film

Bell wrote, directed and starred in the film, there tends to be extra credit given for hitting the trifecta

Bell is seemingly smart, and just hot enough to interest men, but not intimidate women. Oh and she gets extra points for having an amazing body (that rack, my goodness) and toning it down by wearing baggy clothes

The film is about *the industry*, which doesn't hurt

I don't find quick, little stories all that blatantly overrated. Felt the same way about Mud. Is it a 9 out of 10? Maybe not. But it isn't The Master, The Thin Red Line, Lost In Translation or many other bores that people go on and on about. It's 1.5 hours and tells a quick story. Frankly, I thought it was pretty funny.

[–] PillowRock 11 years ago

I dislike the term *it girl*

I know that it's both nitpicking and very tangential to this thread, but for little it may be worth .....

In that phrase, I've always thought that the word "it" should be capitalized, since in that context it is the title of the movie It. The *original* "It Girl" was Clara Bow, whose starring turn in It made her an instant mega-star (though she had been in movies for a few years before that). If the phrase "silent romantic comedy" doesn't immediately turn you off, then you should check it out. It's one of the best couple of such movies that I've seen, and the level of Bow's screen charisma on silent film is significant.

[–] Aryia 10 years ago

Totally agree.

Especially with the mention of quick, little stories. That's exactly what this film is. Exactly the type of stuff that festivals like Sundance like.
Probably this story won't change your life. In terms of story and visuals it's simple but at the same time really unpretentious. It's a well played, well written cute little story.

[–] hillww 11 years ago

Absolutely true, I have just left a screening and want that time back! A whole movie on egotistical selfish bores-dreadful.

[–] sedektirdoff777 10 years ago

If you have reason to pay attention to overpraised properties.... well, you'll find out that so many overly praised, and overly awarded show and movies, have one common denominator, and that is... NICK KROLL.

Nick Kroll will get his dear friend Tig Notaro a Grammy, and he will get dear friend Lake Bell(likely related since his sister married a Seigel and Bell's real last name is Seigel)any award she wishes. If you dig into Kroll's career and that of his fathers and brother and extended family... it gets increasingly clear that not only has be bought a career for himself, but he wants to run comedy like his father runs his business... and throwing bones to the tig notaro, mike birbiglias, lake bell's is a part of that business model.

The guy has access to hungry freelancers who will write anything he submits.He has the power to know who will bit and for what price due to his fathers long history of buying press and journalists.

Not to mention that Kroll can have you jailed and decimated with one well placed phone call. See Ian Pudick Wikileaks for just one recent example.

Hope this info helps.