Golden Exits

Pretentious, over-written diarrhea. Yet another Woody Allen wannabe, peudo-sophisticated, verbose snooze fest.

If you don't like character- and dialogue-driven films, skip this one. I found it interesting. To me, it's about people in search of love and understanding...mostly of themselves. And unfortunately, they all suck at both. If there were some appreciable growth by at least one of these hapless humans, it would've helped. One of the characters had just a tiny bit of an arc.

That said, I can see why the filmmaker did what she did here. Golden Exits is a bit dark and many will find it equally depressing (if you're not taking what I'd call a very objective and observational approach to it), but I think the key point here is *so is life at times.* This film serves as a stark reminder that there is so much more for us than living in perpetual angst and unhappiness - a state in which most if not all of these characters seem to excel.

Golden Exits is one of those gems you feel very happy to come across every now and then. A film with real characters with real life problems that I am sure many people can relate to. One of the characters says that there are not many films made about ordinary people and that is what Golden Exits is basically about. The dialogue is fantastic and some of it might stay with you long after you have watched the film. It delas with feelings of unhappines, doubt, being stuck in life, seeing the world bleaker than it actually is etc. There is also a nice contrast between how simple the film seems to be when it comes to technical aspects but at the same time contains such heavy and deep content that grips you strongly. Good direction and top class acting are accompanied by a simple piano soundtrack that fits the mood of the film very well. Truly a little diamond that all fans of good drama might enjoy and appreciate.

The film was shot in 15 days. It felt like it took that long to watch it. The character development had potential, but it was a paradise lost. The New York setting could have been utilyzed to it's benefit, but it was nowhere to be found. I kept hanging on for some plot development. It went down like a leak in an ignored tire... very slowly. I've rated movies this poorly due to gratuitous sex. That would have improved this loser.

I wanted so badly to like this. The cast... My goodness. Emily Browning, Mary Louise Parker, Lily Rabe, Chloë Sevigny, Ad-rock, Schwartzman. Come on. What a lineup.

But even they couldn't save this movie. All I saw were a bunch of unhappy women wondering about their husband's attention to them and if said husbands were cheating.... or unhappy women wishing they had men, as they are just sooo unhappy being alone. As a bonus, you also get to watch unhappy men seeking validation and attention that apparently their successful and beautiful wives can't provide. All this displayed through boring and unrealistic dialog and actions.

You're going to line up a cast of badass women and then place them in these surface level roles? Really? An absolute waste.

This movie wanted to be profound and intertwined but missed both of those goals by a mile. It really is a shame.