Generation Um

"Generation Um..." is a pretentious shallow film about nothing. The pointless plot is about the lives of three uninteresting persons that live in New York: John (Keanu Reeves) is an unemployed guy and small-time thief and pimp. The Call-girl Violet (Bojana Novakovic) is a promiscuous drug addicted woman that has slept with at least two hundred men and three women. The call-girl Mia (Adelaide Clemens) is a disturbed woman that saw her father kicking the belly of her pregnancy mother that aborted a baby girl. Violet shags John and Mia and she are best friends. On the day of his birthday, John steals a video-camera and makes footage in the Central park and interviewing Violet and Mia. Then the girls go to a bachelor party. My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): "Sem Destino" ("Without Destiny")

I really didn't want to watch this movie. The low rating is an absolute no go. But thanks to some user comments i saw a potential.

I'm happy that i took the chance. It's a movie about life in a certain age - my age. Maybe thats the the reason i liked the movie. It was true. I had a good feeling watching it. I didn't always like the way the camera was moving, but in the end it gave the movie an innocent touch.

This movie takes you into the life of some people you get to know just a little bit. it's like going to a party and listening to other peoples conversations without yourself interrupting. It's a pure view of the world in the eyes of John, Mia and Violet. It's so pure you see their skin 'unphotoshopped' and thats refreshing.

I often feel being betrayed or lied about how things look like, how people look like or how locations, bars, streets look like. All the lights, all the make up, all the color boosts... sometimes its just too much.

To view a movie about kind of a real life story - it's a nice idea to do that with real faces, real streets, real situations. And with that comes no explosion, no special close up event, no beautiful candle light sex scene... etc..

That said, this movie is definitively underrated. If you like Lost in Translation or Vicky Christina Barcelona - you may like this movie too. Just don't expect beautiful colors, perfect romance or a Hollywood type movie in general.

How compelling is it to watch Keanu eat a cupcake?

After a night of hard partying with her roommate Mia (Adelaide Clemens) and the driver John (Keanu Reeves), Violet (Bojana Novakovic) is sleeping it off and doing drugs. Then John steals a camcorder and record interviews of best friends and escorts Mia and Violet about their lives.

Sometimes, Keanu is great. Then sometimes he's like this. He's listless, tired, and lifeless. I know it's the character but he infests the movie with his lifelessness. Director/writer Mark Mann hasn't made this compelling. The first half of the movie scraps along in a grinding waste of time other than a couple of interesting scenes. And no, Keanu eating a cupcake is not one of them. The first half should probably be chopped down to a shorter 15 minutes opening.

The interview meanders. It doesn't have structure to build the tension. They're just sob stories. I like both Bojana and Michelle Williams doppelganger Adelaide. But even as it gets to an interesting place, it took so long that it has no tension. It's a movie that needs more meat on the bone.

Low user ratings are to be expected when the names of Keanu and Bojana fuel edge-of-your-seat anticipation. This however documents (partly videotaped by Keanu's character) a 24 hour stretch in the lives of three people who are beyond clueless, they don't even care if there is such a thing as clue, purpose or direction in life. They don't even bother to define the relationships amongst the 3 of them. They don't even care to find words to describe their feelings and their lack of any accomplishment gives new meaning to the word void. I do believe this to be a socially relevant document of the lives of some of the 20- or 30-something generation who are one level below the entitled ones. It's there, it's real, no comedy nor drama, but it did powerfully communicate awareness to me as a viewer.

Initially after watching I was confused as I could not understand what was happening to the characters in the movie. Once I finished the movie, it began to make sense. I was surprised. This is not a movie that one understands initially after viewing. It is like peeling an onion. After watching the movie twice, I have learned a bit more about the what the symbolism means. Each member of this pseudo family reveals a little bit more about themselves, which takes time to develop. The director and the actors are patient as the undertones of the movie are revealed one by one. It is through this patience that one learns of the real issues that face each member of this cast.