Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Audiophilander (A) on September 07, 2005 at 12:57:05

In Reply to: Well I'll take this critic for 2 points Alex... posted by RGA on September 3, 2005 at 10:25:41:

I came away impressed by the effort, but with a luke warm opinion of this distinctly non-garden variety flick. It boils down to not being as fully engaged by this film as I should've been considering the content. The problem seems to stem from what Director Fernando Meirelles shows the viewer rather than what he doesn't, or vice versa, and THAT requires a bit of explanation!

If the viewer hadn't been shown any of the related action the film might've been a tad more suspenseful, as with a mystery where the threads have to be woven together, but by showing brief snippets of actual horrors as both a preface to the film and in montage as flashbacks without providing the bloodthursty acts on screen it's more difficult developing the empathy you really want to feel for these characters.

This film appears to be neither fish nor fowl, but it is tasty & fresh, if not as readily consumable as one might prefer. As an acquired taste I'd give it a personal recommendation of *** 1/2, with the caveat that it probably won't please everybody.

AuPh