Brightest Star

People (myself included) often hear the word "existentialist" and start thinking about dark, brooding, nihilistic philosophies amounting to something like "life sucks and then you die." Sure, that's a rich tradition amongst existentialists, but there's another side of the coin.

The core theme of existentialism is the idea that we exist in an unfathomable universe without any predetermined right/wrong, and it is up to each of us to determine for ourselves what right/wrong is. That's what "Brightest Star" tackles in the guise of a romance about a guy trying to win back his ex-soulmate. It uses a poignant, recurring metaphor of the stars. The guy goes through life believing that "the brightest star" will one day appear and show him exactly what to do. But for some reason that star eludes him.

If you go into this expecting a standard romcom, you'll phase out by the 2nd act. If you're looking for a tidy Hollywood story with an eventful plot and bang finish, you'll end up hurling your popcorn at the screen. But if you're up for a challenging look at "finding your way" in love, life and logic, then this film delivers.

Some films are like freight trains, picking up momentum toward a singular destination. Other films take a deliberately wandering approach, with frequent jumps in the timeline, or episodic events that seem unrelated to each other. "Brightest Star" falls squarely into the 2nd category with the likes of other fragmented, soul-searching films like "(500) Days of Summer", "Forrest Gump" and even "Citizen Kane".

This is quite a bold directorial debut from Maggie Kelly, certainly not designed to be a crowd pleaser, but for those of you who stray off the beaten path into unwritten territory (like the main character who, if you notice, doesn't even have a name) then this film is for you.

I found the movie awesome to watch. Unlike the previous review of it, I am struck by Chris Lowell's face and thought that it was used well.

I say this because I found Chris well able to convey strong emotion just by looks in his eyes and the expression on his face. His eyes and face said it all and there was no need for dialog. I get why the film maker just had a lot of shots of his face. Those pictures were worth a thousand words.

Yes, Chris Lowell has a pretty face, but if you look past the face to see what was beneath, you get the pain his character is in.

I was deeply touched by his portrayal because it captured the deeper heart level of what was going on internally for the character. I think he carried the film and hope to see him much much more.

While watching this movie, I wonder if it would have been reviewed better had it come out before (500) Days of Summer. There are several elements both movies have: the nonlinear structure, a forlorn protagonist with job dissatisfaction, the opening narration warning of a doomed relationship. In this movie, I found it harder to track the timeline, as there were few, if any, visual clues that helped distinguish between past and present.

This movie seems to be less of a romance and more of a film of personal growth, but overall, the movie, like its protagonist, just moves without a lot of excitement or passion.

My wife and I were looking for an entertaining movie after Saturday steak and wine dinner (with chocolate cake, of course) and came across this one on Amazon Prime streaming. BTW, the wine tonight was Mondavi Cabernet aged in used Bourbon barrels, quite a nice wine for a reasonable price.

What attracted me to this movie was Rose McIver, apparently this was made not long before she starred in the TV series "I Zombie" where she was bitten by a Vampire at a party, she was a medical student who found out if she ate brains of a deceased person she could see what happened, so her job at the coronor's lab also helped the dectective solve crimes.

Anyway in this movie she is not the main character but she is one of the girlfriends. The "Boy" doesn't really know what he wants to do with his life, he gets a job in international sales and does it well, but isn't motivated. He is interest in Astronomy but doesn't have a technical degree so he takes a job at a remote observatory to see if some magical spark will direct him.

I don't rate this movie very highly. However we did both find it enjoyable and entertaining even if the flashes back and the flashes to present aren't always easy to follow. It is an unusual movie.

There is one thing about this flick that ruined the whole movie for me! Why? Oh, Why? Did Maggie Kiley use so many close-ups of Chris Lowell's face? It's like every 8 minutes --- close-up. Does Ms Kiley have a 'thing' for Lowell's face? Am I the only one to notice this weird obsession from start to finish?

Actually the plot gets difficult to follow because Lowell's face is constantly taking over the story. I get the message - he's young, confused, thinks he's in love, and like most people finding direction and focus in ones life is not easy. This would have been a superb story had Maggie Kiley stuck with the conscience direction of 'the boy'. Instead she plastered his face on screen at every chance. It got on my nerve's!

So to sum up this review - if you want a shallow story floating around a guy's pretty face - this is the flick for you!