Miller's Girl

I do enjoy when a movie's dialog provides its own review. This film was " overreaching without ambition." The pacing of the movie was horribly painful. It is never a good sign when I leave the action of the movie and find myself looking around thinking " I am sitting in a movie theater. " Martin Freeman is a terrific actor but the script absolutely failed him. His talents were so totally wasted. I found this to be hopelessly sad as I expected so much from the film.

The movie harps on the mediocrity of the protagonist and then tries to paint him as a villain. It just did not ring true. The script just kept missing; and, it was hard to keep pressing forward. With 45 minutes, or so, to go; I just wanted it to be over.

Honestly, this film isn't good or bad. It's meant to portray an important message to young adults and adolescents but in possibly the worse way possible and creating an abundance of controversy. Behind the obvious salacious context of the situation, it's a layered story about the characters trying to achieve emancipation through their affairs but failing to acknowledge a boundary between people, whether in power or any given scenario it can lead to detrimental consequences. Because, casting a boundary is knowing the risk being took. Other than the horrible lesson portraying I loved cinematography, felt very subtle and eerie, but still and calm. They emphasized that with all the lamps in every room possible. I live in Tennessee myself, and I come to look at it through a different perspective thanks to the euphoric atmosphere of this film. In its own way. Moving from that moment and addressing the big 50/50 question is I don't think Cairo is the villain. She's just a young human who fell for the wrong heart. Humans make mistakes and greater lessons sprout from that, as in the ending scene she was shown to forgive Miller and also grow significantly as a young adult. The lesson in the film is important for any young adult struggling with accountability. Social boundaries, self reflection. Other than that the dialogue was actually hysterical I felt like I was reading a novel by Fitzgerald because no one talks like that in their day to day life the dialogue is like their reading a screenplay. But I guess it all just emphasizes the culture of the film, it being adapted from a play of course. The accents were horrible though in my defense, I understand it takes place in Tennessee but the accents were too inconsistent and dry. Should have been left out but other than the the acting was simply flawless, enough to get me through and mesmerized in some scenes.

A more complex movie than it first appears, the acting from the entire cast was outstanding. At times I found the characters actually made me feel uncomfortable on their behalf and it took me a while to realise that this is exactly what was intended. The entire movie is a study of the emotional struggle of crossing boundaries and this required an impressive intensity from both Ortega and Freeman. In exactly the same vein, Miller's wife, played by Dagmara Dominczyk, was a masterclass in how to develop a character from superficial attractiveness into gin-soaked malignance - an outstanding performance.

I've no doubt that some will find the movie "slow" and "meandering", but if you are prepared to invest in it, the cast will repay you with a moving (and slightly terrifying!) emotional journey that will stay with you for a long time. A feat which few works can manage.

18 year old Cairo Sweet (Jenna Ortega) lives alone in a mansion while her parents are away somewhere. Her new married creative writing teacher Jonathan Miller (Martin Freeman) takes an interest in her and she returns the interest with obsession. When he rejects her pornographic writing, all hell breaks loose.

This movie oscillates between aggressively written and aggressively overwritten. It is trying so hard to be edgy. Jenna Ortega is oozing her lines out. I almost appreciate how hard it is running with scissors. At the end of the day, I am more annoyed with it than appreciate it. It doesn't help that the movie stops short. There is another fifteen minutes or more to go.

A creative writing assignment yields complex results between a teacher and his talented student.

I note many poor reviews and I'm unsure why that is. The acting is great from every single member of the cast.

The dialogue is meaningful and well thought out.

The plot echoes what is happening around the world right now with thousands of teachers and students: some will get caught and some won't. But it's real and so it's great to see the inner workings of the process, by such great acting and story telling.

There's even a bit in there about how women in fact have all the power in the world, they just don't realise it.

There's an insightful comment too about how "We know where the line is and don't cross it." Except some do, and when they have it's too late to walk it back.

I was surprised at Ortega's depth of character acting, but in hindsight perhaps not a great distance from her Wednesday character.

But there's an interplay between her and Winnie, as power and courage shift between one and the other as the story goes on.

Great film, I liked it a lot.