Film Review: 13 Conversations About One Thing
The term "well-written" gets jockeyed around quite a bit in film reviews. While many films deserve accolades for being well-thought out and well-presented, few movies truly are well-written, as in present pages and pages of brilliant dialouge and develop character in subtle ways.
"13 Conversations" is a well-written film. Often, exceedingly so. Certain conversations are so full of fascinating nuggets of wisdom, so full of characters playing off each other, it's a real thrill to watch. Some reviewers refer to it as "philosophical" and I agree. It's the kind of movie that makes you think.
One of the facscinating aspects is the non-linear way it tells stories. For instance, one of the first scenes of the film has a lawyer conversering with a guy in a bar, and the guy in the bar tells a story about a man he knew once, "a happy man." Much later in the film, the guy in the bar becomes a main character and only towards the end of his storyline (the end of the film) does the sequence with the "happy man" play out. Time, according to this movie, is completely relative. And while character's storyline do intersect, they so in the most supremely random ways, my favorite: on the subway.
The film is set in "movie New York." That is, the New York City where it is always fall, where streets are empty, and where the whole city looks a lot like The East Village. It was the one aspect of the movie that felt embellished, but I liked it. It gave the film a sense of hyper-reality.
Acting in the film was extarodinary. The big names, John Turturro and Matthew McConaughey, turned in quiet, naunced, performances. I could imagine actors with more pride demanding more screentime, more "Oscar"-worthy scenes with tears, etc, but these two were perfectly content with their abbreivated storylines and they do extremely well with what they get, especially McConaughey's silent anguish and Turturro's absent-minded soulsearching.
Clea Duvall from Carnivale (!) turned in a haunting performance as a sad girl who gets hit by a car and tries to understand why her life is like it is. The best performance, though, is the most unlikely: Alan Arkin plays a disgruntled insurance salesman with a junkie son. This character reminds me of the old days of movies when actors weren't always the prettiest people in the world and a main character of a movie could be that guy who knocks on his own ceiling with a broom because his neighbor is making a racket or fires a guy for being too damn happy all the time.
On the other side of the camera, the writing and director and sister duo of Karen and Jill Sprecher seemed extremely familiar to me. Thanks to IMDB, I found out they are producers on HBO's brilliant "Big Love" series. Their previous film, Clockwatchers, was also very good and very powerful. (I thought about that film last weekend after I watched "In Her Shoes" with the always fascinating Toni Collette.) And particular shout-out worthy skill should be credited to cinematographer Dick Pope for a beautiful film and some chilling miminalistic music by Alex Wurman.
Highly recommended for people looking for smart movies that are more than just fun to watch, but challenge you to think.
"13 Conversations" is a well-written film. Often, exceedingly so. Certain conversations are so full of fascinating nuggets of wisdom, so full of characters playing off each other, it's a real thrill to watch. Some reviewers refer to it as "philosophical" and I agree. It's the kind of movie that makes you think.
One of the facscinating aspects is the non-linear way it tells stories. For instance, one of the first scenes of the film has a lawyer conversering with a guy in a bar, and the guy in the bar tells a story about a man he knew once, "a happy man." Much later in the film, the guy in the bar becomes a main character and only towards the end of his storyline (the end of the film) does the sequence with the "happy man" play out. Time, according to this movie, is completely relative. And while character's storyline do intersect, they so in the most supremely random ways, my favorite: on the subway.
The film is set in "movie New York." That is, the New York City where it is always fall, where streets are empty, and where the whole city looks a lot like The East Village. It was the one aspect of the movie that felt embellished, but I liked it. It gave the film a sense of hyper-reality.
Acting in the film was extarodinary. The big names, John Turturro and Matthew McConaughey, turned in quiet, naunced, performances. I could imagine actors with more pride demanding more screentime, more "Oscar"-worthy scenes with tears, etc, but these two were perfectly content with their abbreivated storylines and they do extremely well with what they get, especially McConaughey's silent anguish and Turturro's absent-minded soulsearching.
Clea Duvall from Carnivale (!) turned in a haunting performance as a sad girl who gets hit by a car and tries to understand why her life is like it is. The best performance, though, is the most unlikely: Alan Arkin plays a disgruntled insurance salesman with a junkie son. This character reminds me of the old days of movies when actors weren't always the prettiest people in the world and a main character of a movie could be that guy who knocks on his own ceiling with a broom because his neighbor is making a racket or fires a guy for being too damn happy all the time.
On the other side of the camera, the writing and director and sister duo of Karen and Jill Sprecher seemed extremely familiar to me. Thanks to IMDB, I found out they are producers on HBO's brilliant "Big Love" series. Their previous film, Clockwatchers, was also very good and very powerful. (I thought about that film last weekend after I watched "In Her Shoes" with the always fascinating Toni Collette.) And particular shout-out worthy skill should be credited to cinematographer Dick Pope for a beautiful film and some chilling miminalistic music by Alex Wurman.
Highly recommended for people looking for smart movies that are more than just fun to watch, but challenge you to think.
posted by elad at 8:52 AM
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