Little Joe: A Flor da Felicidade

Anne Robinson meets the Little Shop of Horrors in a painfully slow, poorly disguised version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Predictable, dull, illogical, unimaginative, and with a plot containing more holes than a monks collander

Thanks but no thanks.

So it's a modern day take on an old sci-fi classic, with a slight twist, fine we understand that quick enough. However, it fails in direction completely, cold acting with warm and pastal colours is just a cliche. The lead actor centre stage and holding the shot whilst (kabuki) music plays (clearly thinks it has something to do with ikebana) gives an ominous feel, REALLY. You care nothing for the characters, why should you, that's the premise of the film. As for the soundtrack, well it is very annoying, a drum here, an asthmatic whistle there, a tin can, what sounds like a box of chihuahua's, just annoys the viewer. The style, it tries but falls flat, the plant is shown in vivid pink, alluding to the passion it feels, the lead actor originally wears bold colours but then the pastoral colours come in later, why they have to wear 70's clothing to allow this when the rest of the film is clearly in the here and now god knows. A typical critics film from a director who believes their own hype finding what they need to find in films as their own lives are one dimensional and so far from a real film goer. Don't even start on the dialogue. A ten minute short would give you a better experience.

I'll break this review down into three sections; Performance, Production, Plot.

Performance. Everyone is pretty much spot on. All the performances are reserved, which aids the intrigue of whether or not they've been infected and even when you're certain their performances always seem to leave you with a sense of doubt.

Production. This is the highlight of the movie. The sound design (both soundtrack and environmental) do a great job creating a sense of discomfort and foreboding. The costume and set design is beautiful and clinical, but also with great touches of vibrance.

Plot. By far the weakest area in the film and unfortunately what lets the film down. The idea is interesting and the way it's developed is interesting too, but plot points are often contrived or out of place and ultimately too little happens over too long a space of time to keep you fully engaged.

Don't watch this unless you really want to listen to the constant squeal of high pitched frequencies for two hours

Scientists have created a flower that can make people happy. It is clear though that inhaling the pollen has a stronger effect than just that.

Whilst this is an attractive looking film with an interesting idea and a terrifically weird and wonderful score, the storytelling is linear and pretty staid without the twists and turns that could have made everything more interesting. In addition, the acting, whilst in part intended, is also a little too robotic by all involved to make you really care about the direction of travel.