pk1873

With a few tweaks this film could be massively improved, sure it's the predictable unlikely buddy action movie, but that's ok it's a formula that has worked many times.. the two big issues here are the soundtrack and the editing.. a re-edit and for the large part an entirely new soundtrack it's a 7.

I love all the Anime and Manga fans.. they will never be happy with anything that is adapted so they should always be ignored, that doesn't mean they are always wrong, it simply means they will never be objective. I've watched the Amine and live action Japanese versions they were good imo, this isn't by any means great it has many flaws Light is horribly cast, nothing to do with whitewashing it's not set in Japan so that point is irrelevant. It's horribly cast because the 23 yr old guy is a bad actor, when he first encounters Ryuk, who is horribly underused, his reactions made me laugh it's that bad. The Mia and Light storyline is horribly rushed and inexplicably foul mouthed. Not everything is terrible though. I thought L was decent, the gore level is fairly high in comparison to the Japanese live version movies. The story has a few decent changes that could have worked if the acting was better and Willem Dafoe's Ryuk is good but as I already mentioned criminally underused. Not sure about the electronica soundtrack I didn't love it or hate it. The potential was there to make something great but the minute they cast Light it was on a slippery slope.. I really can't stress how bad a performance this guy dials in. I was really disheartened to see on his bio that he's involved in a few what initially looked like half decent upcoming projects. Anyway I didn't out and out hate it because I wanted to like it from the start, I just felt it was an opportunity missed for a great 6 or 8 parter instead of a poorly executed movie. I gave it 5 because the concept and some aspects of the production which were good were let down by others.

I didn't fancy this much when I saw it added to Netflix, but literally gave it a shot on a rainy day and was pleasantly surprised. This is not a comedy jammed with jokes and one liners, however the comedy within it is well crafted and can produce a good lasting laugh.. Sam's friend Zahid in particular has some great lines. The drama aspect is sympathetic I felt to those on the autistic spectrum and I really enjoyed some of the performances. Sam's sister Casey is superbly portrayed and well written a definite doff of the cap to Brigette Lundy-Paine I thought she nailed it. I have always liked Michael Rappaport and in my opinion he puts in another good performance here, his relationship with Sam and Casey comes across really well. My only minor bug bear would be the soundtrack it can be a little irritating in a couple of places, but on reflection that could be to give the feeling of how Sam perceives sound. Overall I was happy I gave this a try because I really enjoyed it.