Generation Um...

"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")

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'.

For some reason I was intrigued by this movie. I kept watching it thinking something would happen. Nothing happened. Halfway through it looked like something might happen. Nothing happened. I still kept watching it though, waiting for some grand revelation, or some insight, or some idea of what it was about, and I didn't get it. I waited for the plot to reveal itself or for there to be some sort of context to the story. There was none. There was no foreshadowing, there did not appear to be any conflict, there didn't appear to be a resolution at the end, either. This movie left me unfulfilled and confused. What is the point of this movie?? I have no idea. Does anyone know, and if so can you share with me what the point of this movie was?

What is the movie about? It's about loneliness in a crowd, probably. About pain. About hope. About proximity. The movie is about just one day, and about the whole life. It's as little as very much at the same time. The movie starts and ends same — the three friends come home from work. But the things that occurred during the day changing their attitude to themselves and to their own lives. They learn to trust. John has the rare talent to ask short questions and to listen carefully. It turns out to be very important, when you just listen and don't teach, don't advise, don't bring something up. John starts video taping as entertainment and ends up as a confession. And confession always clears the soul. Mark Mann shot a very intimate movie, and brought the viewer completely into the world where Mia, Violet and John live. This world isn't joyful and it isn't sad. It's real. The movie is for those who appreciate sincerity on the screen and who aren't afraid to pass others pain through themselves. It's for those who try to understand people living behind the standard morals. The favorite dialog in the movie is: - Just don't hate me because I'm beautiful. - I don't hate you. I'm just confused. Favorite shot: is the park water fountain.

I really didn't want to watch this movie. The low rating is an absolute no go. But thanks to some user comments i saw a potential.

I'm happy that i took the chance. It's a movie about life in a certain age - my age. Maybe thats the the reason i liked the movie. It was true. I had a good feeling watching it. I didn't always like the way the camera was moving, but in the end it gave the movie an innocent touch.

This movie takes you into the life of some people you get to know just a little bit. it's like going to a party and listening to other peoples conversations without yourself interrupting. It's a pure view of the world in the eyes of John, Mia and Violet. It's so pure you see their skin 'unphotoshopped' and thats refreshing.

I often feel being betrayed or lied about how things look like, how people look like or how locations, bars, streets look like. All the lights, all the make up, all the color boosts... sometimes its just too much.

To view a movie about kind of a real life story - it's a nice idea to do that with real faces, real streets, real situations. And with that comes no explosion, no special close up event, no beautiful candle light sex scene... etc..

That said, this movie is definitively underrated. If you like Lost in Translation or Vicky Christina Barcelona - you may like this movie too. Just don't expect beautiful colors, perfect romance or a Hollywood type movie in general.