Génération RX

I just saw this at Sundance, and I sincerely hope this film ends up with distributor and a good marketing campaign, because it is worthy of a wider audience. What was particularly interesting was listening to the director's comments after the film. He pointed out that his biggest challenge in working with this extremely talented ensemble cast was making sure everyone was on the same page in terms of mood. "It's not exactly a drama and it's not exactly a comedy," he said. "We didn't want them playing for laughs, although there are some comedic moments, obviously." Now, usually when movies can't figure out their tone, it's a kiss of death. But this film succeeded because of, not despite, it's delving into the gray area between drama and comedy. The result was a movie about teens that didn't play like a "teen movie," at all. It doesn't exploit and it doesn't play down to any sort of perceived teen audience. Part of that was due to the excellent cast. Jamie Bell was sensational. The adults were equally solid, particularly Glenn Close. I'm interested in seeing how this film is marketed. Some comments I've seen have been critical of the title, but it makes perfect sense once you know the story. All in all, this is one of those movies that obviously started with a great story — full of dramatic tension and social satire — and built from there. All too rare these days.

I was able to see a screening of this film at Sundance tonight (1/26/05) and I just wanted to let anyone who was curious about this movie that it is definitely worth seeing. Some lucky distributor is going to make bank off of this great film by a skilled director and soulful screenwriter.

Although I was pleasantly surprised as famous face after famous face came on the screen, Jamie Bell (main character Dean) is without equal. In the Q&A session after the screening, the Director talked a little about wanting to make a movie that examined the hypocrisy and muted subjects of our culture. I think he hit the nail right on the head. He also talked about how they removed all pop culture references in the movie so that they could create their own archetype of pop culture-- the Chumscrubber. The characteristics of this comic book/video game hero are an allegory that can help you decode the messages of the movie. (On a comic note, he also said that once you see this movie you will see dolphins EVERYWHERE. When you see it, you'll know what I mean.) Screenwriter Zak Stanford said that a Chubscrubber is the worst job in the fishing village he grew up in. It's the person that has to mop the floor clean after everyone else has gutted and processed the fish. This movie, in part, discussed "what it would be like to have someone do that for you."

There are parts of this movie that are definitely funny. However, I didn't find myself laughing at all them because I couldn't shake the feeling that I would have been laughing at myself. I guess I'm saying that for those of us who find themselves seeking escape in a world that finds us trivial, there is a lot of truth in this movie. But don't worry... it also shows us the power a single human connection can have.

SEE/BUY/DISCUSS/ANTICIPATE/DEVOUR THIS MOVIE!!

Ascender

P.S.- Don't be put off by trite descriptions of this film as a "tale of a young boy fending off the evils of suburbia." It really doesn't do it justice. It's fresh, fun, and moving.

I saw this movie at Sundance and just loved it. The director introduced it and sort of nailed it on the head. The movie cannot really be easily explained - it's a sort of dark comedy. It has a lot of society commentary that if you paid attention was really great. It also had a bit of a teen type of movie theme but was also very adult. The actors were great. Everybody seemed to steal the show and you really got into their characters. Also there was a lot of symbolism/themes that were very nicely inserted in the movie. I hope it gets a lot of exposure as it is my favorite movie right now. The whole audience was laughing during the movie as well as gasping at certain moments.

I just watched this movie last night, and I can see this movie as being one you either really like, or you really hate. I personally found it very interesting, especially in the portrayal of suburbia being "perfect," but when you look closer everyone has just as many flaws as any other person. The performances are solid as well as the soundtrack, but sometimes the movie moves a little slow, but then again what movie doesn't? If you are not tired of the typical teen angst movie, then I suggest this movie. Although some people gave this a very bad review, I suggest you to just keep an open mind while watching it, you probably won't be disappointed. There are only a few flaws throughout the movie, and also it exaggerates parents not paying attention to their kids very much and has a few unbelievable moments, but some of it is just because of the satire. I really liked this movie and I hope you do too!

Awful. Just another stick-it-to-suburbia watered-down David Lynch/American Beauty/Donnie Darko/Larry Clark pastiche. It's all about confused teenagers (yawn) and clueless parents (big yawn) and all those pills they keep popping. The filmmakers think they're creating some clever, witty satire but they're just banging the same nails into the same spots that we've all seen before. It's a soul-less drone making a film about soul-less drones. But these phony create-a-cult indie films always find chuckleheads all too easily floored by this kind of material, so it will be praised to the skies by some. They'll find the dolphin imagery deep and mysterious, and the idle kidnapping of a young boy a comment on the new generation's dis-association from criminality and its consequences. And those parents, all so corrupted and uncomprehending of their children's lives, and so consumed with maintaining appearances. Gosh, I haven't seen stuff like this since.... since I last turned on my TV set at primetime. But, golly, ain't it funny when a kid gets killed by a cop in a car crash and no one cares because they're stoned, and even the cop takes no notice (the dead kid splattered across his shattered windshield) because his mind is on other things. What, no musical number, ala Monty Python's 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"? Oh, but we do get a video game wraparound that gives us the title of the film. Too bad the title is useless and meaningless either as the game's title or the film's.