M.F.A.

I read a few reviews before deciding to write this and what I read was they felt this movie was an attack on men in general and that in order to enjoy this movie you had to be a hardcore feminist. Well that's just nuts, as a male I for one liked this film. at one point after I read the reviews I tried to stop watching , I guess I felt that I had to support y gender since that is what they thought. But I just couldn't. There was something that pulled me into it. made me want to watch it all. The reviews that I have read that critic this movie in a negative way are not really critiquing the movie but how they side with the story being told. Saying the movie is bad because its unfair towards men is a weak critic about the movie itself and more of a view into what that person thinks about strong women to begin with. The movie itself is rather slowed paced but always kept me intrigue enough to want to sit and watch it all. Its not my typical type of movie , I am more of an action pact movie guy but every now and then I find myself captivated by a slow paced film such as this.

Good ideas, sometimes bad and laughable execution, not realistic at all. A great performance save it from being an entirely bad film, but it's not very compelling either.

Noelle (Francesca Eastwood) is studying painting at a Californian college for her MFA. She is invited to a party by hunky classmate Luke. They make out but the sex turns rough. She tries to stop but is overpowered by him. Her neighbor Skye counsels letting it go as she had done with her own rape. Noelle decides to report to the school therapist but her questioning is accusatory. She joins a help group but the girls are ineffectual. She confronts Luke and accidentally kills him. She decides to turn into a vigilante. Police detective Kennedy (Clifton Collins Jr.) investigates.

Clint's daughter Francesca Eastwood is an interesting new actress. She hasn't broken through yet but she has the charisma to get noticed. She has a nice dark side and does damaged well. The writing is a little pedestrian but it generally works. More needs to be given to Clifton Collins Jr. His is the key for tension and drama but he isn't given the needed material. Generally, this is fine but it doesn't really push the envelope.

This movie follows one main character, Noelle. She is an art major that is struggling to evolve. She decided to go to a party to meet up with a guy from class that she finds attractive and ends up getting raped. Her claims summarily dismissed, she goes to confront her rapist and ends up killing him by accident. This sends her down a path where she exacts revenge on rapists for other women, though they do not know she is doing it.

This is another take of the revenge movie, less rough than the I Spit On Your Grave movies. Francesca Eastwood does a phenomenal job in this movie as does the supporting cast. She just outshines them by a lot.

There is some nudity from both genders here and a lot of talk and imagery of rape. If that sort of thing does not bother you, then gives this a view.

Maybe if the movie was released during the #metoo movement, it might have done really well at the box office. It does have Clint Eastwoods daughter in the main role and of course it does have the topic of sexual abuse. There is some reality behind it all which may make some people uncomfortable. 1) because of the subject matter and 2) because of how it handles the topic after it (where it descends into the fantastic and unbelievable).

While I don't agree with everything the movie is portraying, the movie itself says that our main protagonist isn't always on the right side (of her mind) either. So if you try to nitpick, there is a lot you can find here. But if you accept this as a thriller and a bit of social message in between, you should be ok. Sit back, relax and do try to take the positive the movie is trying to tell/sell