Funny Face

Good acting with a dark, brooding, bizarre protagonist. Kept my interest but slow going at times. Some will say this is a story about nothing. For me it felt like a 21st century Dickensian social commentary about the haves and have nots. Would have rated higher if not for lackluster ending.

OK, I'm done watching Tim Sutton movies.

It's not that Sutton isn't talented, but since his visually stunning debut "Pavillion", his creative vision keeps battering the same one wall, like a stymied writer-blocked film student.

Especially after "Dark Night", Sutton drew a lot of comparisons to Gus Van Sant, whose "Elephant" was similarly structured and themed. Sure, "Dark Night" meandered, as all of Sutton's films do, but it did it in such a curiously intriguing way, showing you characters and situations that when they weren't odd or slightly askew in a way you had to work to articulate, the film was at bare minimum striking to look at. On a macro level, it had a lot to say.

"Funny Face" has a premise that seems intriguing, but it's hung on a cast of the dullest characters Sutton has yet created. They aren't exactly unlikable, and for brief periods the boy-girl protag's relationship and shared grief over lives lost/ abandoned does work.

But then it's as if Sutton remembered he's also got a plot to run. This constant down and up shifting in the pacing only emphasizes Funny Face's threadbare conceits --- it's attempts to draw parallels between the protagonist and antagonist, and the few sledgehammer blows of symbolism (the pink neon sign was laughable) make it self-conscious and embarrassing. The limited character palettes guarantee all the performances come across as either stilted or overplayed (especially by the villain).

If Sutton's previous films did nothing else, they carried a bit of subtlety and grace. Funny Face's repetitive nature and lack of any substantial dialogue, combined with the basic ordinariness or ugliness of it's surroundings and leaden juxtaposition add up to nothing, at least nothing worth sitting still for at 93 minutes.

The movie itself is poor, kinda went nowhere, but the acting from Cosmo, is nothing short of breathless. As a sufferer of anxiety/depression I identified with him immediately. The meltdown in the car, I cried.

To save everyone time let me start out and tell you that this is in no way a revenge or vigilante movie. There is no violence, there is not much in the way of plot, there is no excitement or action. There is a little bit of boobies for like 60 seconds if that's your thing. This is an art house film, so be warned.

This was an odd movie to get all the way through for me, not because it's necessarily bad, but it's not "good" either because it really doesn't have a story or plot line. It is shot in a very gritty way that showcases both the beauty and griminess of New York. I've only been to NY state once and went through the various boroughs and they really do have a beauty to them, older architecture, mom and pop shops everywhere, it's alive and crawling with people. And rats. And pigeons. Because there's also the ugly side, trash everywhere, it stinks, it's noisy, the people are jerks...I hated NY city. But that doesn't mean I can't appreciate it.

And that's really a large part of this movie, the pros and the cons of life there. It's about how class warfare affects those at the bottom, about what happens to them when their neighborhood is bulldozed so an expensive high-rise complex can move in, displacing all the previous inhabitants. It's about immigrants moving into the middle of this and feeling out of place, trying to figure out where they fit in. This is not told through any sort of story, it's 90% atmosphere with a speech sort of explaining the heart of the issue near the end of the film. This is all told through the experiences of essentially 3 people, the displaced, the immigrant, and the wealthy real-estate mogul.

So if you like movies based entirely around atmosphere, long sweeping shots of city life, long silences and moments of brooding, give it a shot. The main performances were above average in general (couple poorly delivered lines here and there), the direction and cinematography is excellent...but it's a bit boring and feels aimless. I wouldn't recommend it to the average individual.

I definitely see why *some* reviewers were turned off or annoyed by this film's slow pacing and lack of an in-your-face plot. The plot is there, but it's definitely not something like a John Wick or Joker where you feel as though every moment of the film is building on it and toward a specific outcome.

The story centers on two disaffected youths from different social backgrounds but who both live in and appreciate Brooklyn and NYC. I haven't seen New York presented as well as in this film in a long time, with long quiet (save for some background music in parts) scenes that capture the city as almost a character.

The dialog is slow and disjointed at times, but that's part of the deal when your protagonists are both somewhat introverted and still feeling out where they fit in their own skin and society at large.

The villain was a little over the top, and the strange (non) sex scene in which nothing actually happens but three semi-nude women writhing around all over each other in front of him was IMO totally unnecessary and, while filmed rather competently, amateurly conceived and included in the first place. That was good for a 2 star reduction right there.

The score was awesome and original. I loved most of the background music.

Look, this is the very definition of "art house" cinema. It reminded me of Uncut Gems but without the frenetic pacing, super uncomfortable situations and borderline psycho characters, not to mention the clear plot.

I give this one 6.8 stars rounded up to 7 as it was mostly a very engaging watch and sucked me in despite the no-frills production and sparse plot development (which, again, was intentional - leaving the viewer to read between the lines). If you're turned off by the negative reviews, then this one probably isn't for you and you can safely skip it. If you're in the mood for something different, relaxing even, give it a try.