bwam2mil

A sort of precursor to American Beauty and other modern fillms about dissatisfaction, Kazan's The Arrangment is an interesting attempt to characterize a man's deconstruction. Kirk Douglas plays Eddie, an advertising executive coming to terms with his job, his family, and his life's direction. Kazan experiments with montage, split narrative, and time span as he tells the story of a man looking for something new in life. The result is a compelling and relevant story about modern happiness that is broken apart by bizarre construction and confusing shot arrangement. Kazan has some interesting ideas here, but not all of them work. His split-consciousness portrayal of Eddie is sometimes confusing and distracting, as is the switch between past and present. Douglas is good as the lead; I don't see why Kazan would have chosen Brando in retrospect as I don't think it would have made much of a difference. Overall, a film worth seeing if you're a Kazan-freak, but otherwise stick with Streetcar, Eden, or Waterfront..

before i begin my review, i want to say that wes anderson is a great talent, and his knack for character and small detail remains unparalleled by most modern directors. all his films - rushmore in particular - are very charismatic and vibrant.

his latest, however, is definitely a step back. like rushmore and tennenbaums before it, life aquatic deals with themes of regret, familial relations, and personal accomplishment. however rather than truly exploring these ideas through character relations, anderson's script (written without usual partner owen Wilson) uses them as merely as springboards to put characters in wacky situations. the film lacks the depth of anderson's previous works and feels particularly flimsy.

perhaps this can be attributed to anderson's growing obsession for detail. i read in an interview that he was supposedly trying to be less meticulous on this one, but if that is in fact the case there surely is no evidence of it. anderson beats us over the head with the small stuff, from the crew members backgrounds to the plans of the boat. this makes for a very interesting film visually, but certainly does not advance any major ideas or themes, and at times hurts the film.

i sincerely hope that with his next film, anderson explores some new territory, as far as character development and theme are concerned. Steve Zissou just kind of felt like a hodge-podge of Mr. Blume & Royal, only not as interesting. to end on a positive note, the cast is superb (altho cate blanchett gets annoying quick), the music is brilliant, and the visual style is still distinctly wes.

i'd give it a 6 out of 10

take every military action thriller made in the past ten years, smash them all together, and you get this slop of a film. perhaps the most cliched movie i've ever seen. an embarrassment for all involved. don't waste your time or money.