Written by Luke Barnes
Summary
Honestly the plot was fairly indecipherable, so I will just say a commentary on covid, the war on terror and the relationship between brothers?
I really enjoyed The King Of New York however everything else that Abel Ferrara has done since has left me cold, this is no exception.
So the big and obvious issue here is after watching it I have no idea what this film is supposed to be about, that is a pretty big red flag. It seems like scenes are just randomly stitched together with a throwaway artsy scene crammed in-between for good measure, all leading to nowhere of course. Trying to follow the narrative of this film will simply leave you with a headache. To me it seems like Ferrara is just trading on the goodwill he has from earlier projects to make films like this which most likely won’t jive with a lot of those watching it.
The best thing about this film is the performance from Ethan Hawke who is really going for it. Hawke plays two brothers; both are quite different so Hawke has to deliver two distinct performances which he does with gusto. Hawke, much like Dafoe in Ferrara’s other recent work is the saving grace.
Overall, this film is a confused mess that clearly thinks of itself as far better than it actually is.
Pros.
Hawke
A few interesting visuals
Cons.
There is no narrative
It feels pretentious
Pacing issues galore
It is not as insightful as it again thinks it is and is instead dull
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Another Millennial Reviewer 