Not very good
After watching it last night my initial opinion was higher, but like many films it didn't sit well after digestion. I've since slept on it and changed viewpoints due to sudden moments of clarity on how shallow and ridiculous a film it was. Maybe I temporarily granted it far too much artistic license knowing Monahan wrote it and that the actors are two very capable men at their craft, Oscar ISaac and Garrett Hedlund. Wahlberg was cannon fodder at best here.
Underneath the shallow exterior of this film is nothing, it's all just a fancy tablecloth. There has been this commercial playing constantly on TV lately, if you saw it once you'll remember it. It has Johnny Depp muttering incoherent phrases about life, passion and searching for something as he drives this old Dodge (Charger?) into the desert. About how he is looking for some life affirming sign of some kind. He goes all Fear and Loathing out there and frantically buries his belongings then stares deeply over the horizon. If you've seen it and you're anyone but a woman who is in love with him(he's even decked out in some heavy eyeliner) you'll know it may be the most pretentious bunch of bullsh!t you've ever seen, even if it is an ad for cologne.
Why am clammering on about some unconnected bit of advertising, because it sums up this film so perfectly, a man searching for meaning in the desert, suicidal because every dream he has ever had has come true and he doesn't know what to want anymore, a rich, famous, healthy, spoiled man with a loving family who has everything and wants for nothing. It takes a suspicious meeting with Oscar Isaac in his desert camp that night and the further toil with him afterward to make him appreciate what he has. It all just comes across as Monahan pandering to the woes of the elite and perhaps himself. There is no connection to to be had with these characters in the film due to the utter lack of backstory and character development. Had there been more it would have massively polarized the audience to Hedlund the protagonist considering his status and his childish spoiled bitch behaviour.
I only offer my extended opinion due to the fact that this indie thriller's writer's previous works and the film's cast. When combined with my expectations going in it only amplifies my disappointment. This isn't an awful film, it's an average thriller not unlike the many many other forgettable average thrillers that have come before it. I want to give it a 6/10 if only for the actors and technical areas being all very competent, but it's really not a film that will maintain that score in the long run with me or on IMDb. It's awful there was a sizable ballot stuffing here, but IMDb has it well in hand:
Votes Percentage Rating
127-----44.4% ***10
2--------1.7% 9
17-------5.9% 8
36-------12.6% 7
25-------8.7% 6
12-------4.2% 5
14-------4.9% 4
10-------3.5% 3
13-------4.5% 2
27-------9.4% 1
***286 IMDb users have given a weighted average vote of 5.9/10
Anyone who loved the film and gave a 10/10 great, glad you thought it was a masterpiece, but there is no need to post here how you voted a 10/10 and it was unbiased. Also feel free to disagree, it's your right to have your own opinion, but this one just happens to be mine.