MovieChat Forums > Nightingale (2014) Discussion > Mediocre

Mediocre

posted 9 years ago by leoscorch
15 replies | jump to latest

The beginning was very intruiging, and I was prepared for a very interesting and compelling drama. And the movie was very interesting to begin with. I liked the concept, and am generally a big fan of depictions of people falling into mental illness.

But a movie such as this is entirely dependent on a very strong performance by the actor. And although it was pretty decent acting, it did not manage to hold my attention for more than the first 20 minutes or so. After that it became quite.. boring, in lack of a better term. Wether it is lack of charisma, lack of acting skills or just a subjective disliking from me - or a mix of all three, I lost complete interest half-way through.

My thoughts kept going to Tom Hardys performance in Locke. And how compelling that movie was to watch. If he took Oyelowos role in this film, I think maybe it could have been a very good movie. My thoughts also went to The Babadook. A movie with a very deep and true depiction of mental illness. Where I had the strong feeling that the people behind the movie had a really upclose and personal relation to mental illness and managed to get the horridness of it through in their movie. In Nightingale I got more the impression that it was made by someone who is just guessing how it must be for a person to go into the depths of hell that is severe mental illness.

Did not really much care for the "subtle" hints of the main characters sexuality either.

But one thing is for sure. I found this movie very mediocre, and was so bored half way in, that I had to skip quickly through the last parts.
But that's just like my opinion man.

Sry bout the rambling. Just saw the movie and was very surprised when I saw all the positive feedback on the forums, and wanted to come with a counter-argument.
5/10 would not watch again.

[–] cactusjac2000 9 years ago

My problem was that it really wasn't subtle at all. It's all choreographed from the very beginning. No surprises... just waiting to see it play out. Oh well.

Note: Everything in this post is an opinion, and sometimes including facts to back up the opinion.

[–] outofmana 9 years ago

Yea I agree there weren't any surprises. I had hoped to learn something crazy like none of the people he talked to on the phone existed, or that this "Edward" person was just a stranger who didn't know the main character at all. I just thought there were a lot of more interesting directions this film could have went at the end.

[–] CoyDog 9 years ago

I can assure you it's not a lack of acting skills.

[–] karrasmatt 9 years ago

The main character is gay, it's blatantly obvious and I sense you use the world "subtle" as it's obvious you have biases that it's clear as day. (Comment)

You did obviously skip forward in the movie as you miss subtle notes. (word used correctly)

His mother passed away and he is trying to kill himself (she didn't approve of his life) the blood at the start and on the cover is his own.

Anyways, you rambling is good for us all as a species (opinions!). Thank you.

[–] Humpty_Dumpty_Car_Service 9 years ago

Maybe I missed something...I thought he killed his mother because she wouldn't let him have his friend over for dinner?

[–] Sweetdee525 9 years ago

No no no! He killed his mother. She disapproved of him having Edward over and he lost it and killed her. That's why he said that he just fight expect there to be so much blood. It was only AFTER Edward's complete rejection that he contemplated killing himself. He was completely content with his mother being gone - hence him professing that "there has been a change in circumstances" that he could now be with Edward.

[–] jimel98 9 years ago

His mother 'passed away'? It seemed pretty clear he killed her, hence the blood.

Yes, it was very clear early on he was gay. No biggie, it would have made an interesting story regardless. As for WHY he killed his mother, he makes it quite clear it's got little to do with his 'lifestyle'. No doubt that's a factor, but it's pretty evident from his own words that she was an extremely controlling person and he simply snapped.

As for the subtlety of his being gay, it's abundantly clear as the film progresses, but at the outset, it could be interpreted that he simply had a very close relationship with Edward, maybe due to the war experiences that the synopsis implies.

But since no war experience is EVER even once related, leading me to believe he may never have been in any war, someone with any kind of deductive reasoning can figure out he is in fact gay and that he and Edward shared something very special while in the Army, something that Edward, though succumbing at least once again, wants very much to put behind him as does his wife. Peter can't let Edward go, which only adds to the instability of his mental state.

[–] screen14 9 years ago

Yea I agree there weren't any surprises. I had hoped to learn something crazy like none of the people he talked to on the phone existed, or that this "Edward" person was just a stranger who didn't know the main character at all. I just thought there were a lot of more interesting directions this film could have went at the end.

That would not be a surprise, but rather a tired and overused cliche. The story and the character David portrayed were both grounded in reality. This movie was designed to inform, not entertain with nail-biting twists and surprises.

[–] kay_rock 9 years ago

Benjamin,

I think the responses have more to do with the oh-so-casual way the OP inserted that they "did not care" for the "subtle hints" about the characters sexuality. It was like a spot-light on the post and the true feelings of the OP. People who "do not care" for that sort of thing will often look to find other flaws to justify their distaste. Once they felt the need to put that in there, the rest became fluff.

If they really wanted to talk about the quality of the film itself, they could have easily left that part out. The fact that it was a sticking point for them becomes a sticking point for the people reading the post.

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

[–] SixtiesAmethyst 9 years ago

@kay_rock.....it's as if you read my mind and said exactly what that i was thinking. gmta :)

[–] SixtiesAmethyst 9 years ago

oops,
I meant to say.... "exactly what I was thinking"

[–] erudite925 9 years ago

Once again, Kay_roc, your insight about the OP is dead on accurate. 👊👏

"Take your hands off my lobby boy!"🚂

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[–] Johnny-Cakes 9 years ago

Sounds like you're a slight homophobe with ADD. But that's just my opinion, man. By the way, I was bored with your review halfway though so I skipped the end and was underwhelmed. Also, I didn't appreciate how you didn't appreciate the subtle hints at his sexuality.

I suspect the reason for the positive reviews of this movie stem from the fact that the performance was relatively brilliant. But, since you're obviously so in touch with mental illness, I'm sorry it didn't speak any truths to you. Be well.