MovieChat Forums > Certain Women (2017) Discussion > Excruciatingly Slow and Boring

Excruciatingly Slow and Boring

posted 7 years ago by kuntext
14 replies | jump to latest

Rather than watch this, I recommend spending hours looking at mountainous landscapes. At least you might see some colors and imagine a story - both of which this film lacked.

And, I LIKE slow films. I love stories about women. I love Indies and artsy films and the unique! This made "Tender Mercies" seem action-packed and racy by comparison.

I love Laura Dern, Michelle Williams and Kristen Stewart... but their characters were flat, devoid of emotion or complexity. Terrible, terrible writing.

Lily Gladstone stole the movie with one scene - the only scene worth remembering.

~~~ "Thinking" involves a lot more work than simply "having a thought"! ~~~

[–] Enceladus504 7 years ago

It was awful

[–] kagonz1 7 years ago

I couldn't agree more. It was an extremely slow film. Truly, a waste of time.

[–] jawn030 7 years ago

It's clear that you miss the point of Reichardt's style.

Sure, her style is certainly not for everyone and that's totally okay.

Where you went wrong is your criticisms about the characters and the writing.

In this case, the viewer is forced to accept the space between the characters within the stories and interact with that space on a level that's deeper and more involving than most mainstream movies allow for.

Like I said, it's fine to dislike this movie. I can understand why it's not for everyone. However, claiming you disliked the movie because of flat characters and poor writing demonstrates the fact that those parts of the movie went straight over your head, no offense.

[–] 7 years ago

[deleted]

[–] kuntext 7 years ago

Jawn -

I can tell from your post why you thought this film was an example of depth and nuanced complexity.

Water seeks its own level.

~~~ "Thinking" involves a lot more work than simply "having a thought"! ~~~

[–] SeemsSensible 7 years ago

I agree, I felt like I had been chloroformed.

[–] fn-sj 7 years ago

It's undeniable that her movies are very deliberate and almost laboured and without falling into the trap of quoting Stewart in her various interviews and Q&A responses at NYFF and her remarks about the "space between", I think it's ok to say that the director can overdo her "spaces' sometimes. I certainly wouldn't go as far as blaming the characters for the dullness but I would say they are underdeveloped as was the script in places.

I think Stewart, Williams and Derne do play the understated very well and catching those hairsbreadth of moments which aren't usually given the time to develop in others hands is a finely tuned art but they are moments in their own right not 'spaces between ' something else...thus implying verbal dialogue has higher currency than the visual,

Having said that, her movies achieve this with varying degrees of success; Certain Women offers more contextual variance in tone than Night Moves which was almost monotone, in every sense, including the performances.

One definitely has to retune the brain as well as expectations and let "water find it's own level" instead of making waves.

[–] kuntext 7 years ago

fn-sj

Those whom are educated or experienced with adaptations from page to screen are the most likely group to recognize a failed attempt such as "Certain Women."

The audience members whom have read the texts before seeing the film bring that inner voice of the characters to fill in what is missing on the screen.

I'm not sure what you mean about "not blaming characters" because they are fictional entities - the criticism goes to those writing the adaptation. This is especially true when actors of this caliber deliver fine performances. It's an example of "Putting lipstick on a pig." It just didn't work.

Best thing to do is to learn the lessons, make the improvements and try again. :)

~~~ "Thinking" involves a lot more work than simply "having a thought"! ~~~

[–] GataGris 7 years ago

The good points are the cinematography and the actor's direction. Next time -IMHO- they should try having a script. Just telling some story. Using the almost two hours of filmming for something more than visual Xanax.

[–] fn-sj 7 years ago

The writer and director always has a script and is fastidious in ensuring the actors deliver the lines word for word...her direction then gives the impression of it being so loose that it seems there is no script is her idiocyncratic approach which often comes across as unstructured.

[–] darylUK 7 years ago

I think it depends on how much you can relate to the characters. I struggle with any film in which I fail to understand what drives the people in the story. In this case, because I had relatable experience of some characters, particularly in story 3, I was able to use the 'space between' scenes to interpret how the characters were feeling and what they may be thinking. Laura Dern and Lily Gladstone truly conveyed these emotions with understated, effective acting.

But not a film for everyone. Btw I also enjoy the Fast and Furious movies ?

[–] Xcalat3 (3701) 7 years ago

/ I recommend spending hours looking at mountainous landscapes./

unfortunately there are no Mountains where i live, but i could have stared at the water for a couple of hours instead of being bored by this.

[–] [email protected] (1288) 6 years ago

I so agree

[–] [email protected] (1288) 6 years ago

Its really simple...They had a great cast, beautiful settings, and a potential for a fine movie. It had all the moving parts. It just was bland. Too slow,,,no direction..The writing was awful. Had it just enticed the viewers to follow their journeys without falling so flat on every story, it wouldve been great. Actually the last story had somewhat of a storyline.,,but Michelle Williams story was basically an hour of her and her sandstone. If I never see that type of rock again, it will be too soon. I mean, come on already.