Sem Destino

If I could give it a 6.5, I would. While it was not hugely captivating, it did hold my attention.

First of all, one of the best things about the movie is that it appears to be an independent film. What that means to me is that you will not have to suffer through all the trite Hollywood-isms like the boy risking his life for the girl of his dreams.

I will say that if you do not like dialog driven movies, this is not the movie for you. Nothing 'happens'. In fact, there isn't even much dialog. But, the content was fresh and cohesive. I think the acting/actions and cinematography carry the movie adequately enough that I never feel myself urging to hit the fast forward or stop button. Oddly enough, I do not recall if there was any soundtrack music. If there was, it blended in well enough as not to be a distraction.

Of major importance is the fact the the acting was good enough that at no point in the movie was I reminded that I am watching an actor. You know how in Django, every time Jamie Fox said something, you were reminded that he is an actor from the 21st century. To me, that ruins the movie experience. Some one is going to say, 'Every time I watch Keaneau Reeves, I think of "Bill and Ted."' To that I can only say, "Every time I hear Sean Connery talk, I think of James Bond. Every time I hear Robert DeNiro talk, I think of Taxi. Every time I hear Al Pacino talk, I think of Scarface. Yet these are all actors who are never criticized for being one-denominational" My point is, there are chameleon actors, and there aren't. The bulk of the actors out there aren't like Gary Oldman, who reinvents himself every movie.

Moving on, the last thing I have to say about the movie is that the ending was awesome. I can't say much more without spoiling it. I love when a movie forces me to re-frame events. Well done.

If I had to categorize the movie, then I would use the key words 'psychological drama'.

I get what this film was trying to do, and I could see how it was going about it, and that is what spoiled the film; it seemed too contrived. Or was it? On paper, it must have been a great idea but more for new up and coming actors to cut their teeth on and show their mettle, and there were some very good performances, or was everyone wooden and emotionless? Generation Um... is about life in the generation/social class where nothing really happens, although a lot does, just not necessarily good stuff, and where life hope, expectancy and future are limited by indecision, lack of direction, and feelings of being beaten down constantly by society. The story - the documentary, if you will - follows three friends/colleagues and as is the case amongst people who know each other, they don't explain their connection or their back story for the purposes of the viewer. You have to guess, piece it together as the story goes on. It's a bleak film, and hard to watch as it is so intimate, so warts and all, so brave. There's no soft lighting, no airbrushing, nothing for the actors to hide behind. A brave choice for the ladies, and for Reeves - where most actors his age are going for more glamour and youthfulness he steps out in grim NYC back streets with a hand-held camera on him, watching him eat a cupcake and just sit. And think. Or not. Look at a squirrel. Smile at a dog. Look at a puddle. Walk along.

It's not a nice film. It's not therefore enjoyable. I felt tense all the way through it, partly because I admire Reeves and didn't want to see him engage in "24 hours of sex drugs and indecision" and also because it just had that feeling of impending catastrophe about it. You were waiting for the painful scene, the breakdown, the violence. But it was actually quite quiet and tender interspersed with the almost relieving "art shots" from John's (Reeves') hand-held stolen camera and yet again Reeves plays the benign, safe, wall of calm. The canvas on which the two girls lives were painted. Almost. Novakovic and Clemens were not known to me as actors, but are clearly very talented.

I would like to give this film more stars, as the story stayed with me for days after watching it. I wanted to think it through, see more layers, even watch it again (which was a shocker, as after watching it I felt as if I never wanted to sit through that again and it was a SLOW film)... as a film, it was pretty dreadful. As art it was superb. You FELT the 24 hours, you FELT the lacklustre grimness and dirtiness, you FELT the hopelessness and the complete lack of direction, you felt the frustration with John's monosyllabic non-responsiveness and saw all the opportunities that he let slip by, the questions you would have asked the girls... it was SO lacking, that was clearly deliberate and that shows Direction and Writing of such scope and imagination... or it was really that awful. You see? I'm torn.

The best parts of the film are some superbly artful editing (Squirrel/Cocaine especially) and the end credits (no I'm not being cutely rude), but do watch to the end... there's a bit of filming at the end which sort of ties the story up. It looks unscripted, all the characters are more relaxed, happy drunk, Reeves is suddenly his charming self, the girls less intense, there is chemistry between the actors, they are smiling and joking and you finally find something out about John. It becomes a little more rounded...

I don't know... Um... I'm undecided; good or bad film; brilliant or apathetic acting; art-house or schmarthouse? Artistically minimalist or trying too hard? You decide. Please... YOU decide and tell me what to think ;-)

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.

I love Keanu Reeves. And *spoiler alert* I felt the ending of the movie might be the beginning of the movie. I started over. It wasn't. Costumes were different. Only in the relevance that one day isn't much different from the next. But while taking place, it seemed that a guy annoyed with two hot but skanky chicks decided to take an interest in them after stealing a video camera. And his documentary of them was insightful. But he knew them all along. The only person surprised a the ending was me. And maybe you.

"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")