Wednesday, 12 September 2012
Father of Invention
What is Kevin Spacey doing? It feels like he’s not making
many films, spending all his time at the Old Vic, but actually his work rate is
the same as it’s always been (in 1999 he made one film – American Beauty). Perhaps the films he’s making, then, just aren’t
as good as his old ones? Or the roles he’s taking in them are minor? In Father of Invention, from 2010, he plays
a disgraced inventor, who has spent ten years in a federal prison, trying to
restart his life and career. It’s a comedy that’s not really funny. He manages
to convince his daughter to let him live with her while he rebuilds his life.
Her flatmates, I assume, are supposed to be quirky and funny (they’re not). The
film plods along fairly ordinarily, but it is enjoyable enough. Probably the
funniest character is the man now sleeping with his wife, played by Craig
Robinson, who is secretly his biggest fan. Johnny Knoxville also makes an
intriguing distraction, even if not especially funny, as the supermarket
manager. The music video at the end is a weird aberration, not really in
keeping with the rest of the movie. The world of the film is not as well
crafted (people and places come and go randomly) as it could’ve been. You won’t
be surprised to learn that Spacey’s character manages to restart his career and
rebuild his relationship with his daughter, whilst learning what is truly
important in his life, and possibly beginning a romantic affair with one of her
flatmates. The context and the characters might be new here, but the premise
isn’t, and the writing isn’t good or funny enough to pull it above the rest of
the films competing for your attention at the moment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The Hateful Eight
Tarantino has said he'll only make ten films, and then retire. I don't know if he still stands by this statement, and if he does we ...
-
The name may seem a bit odd, and perhaps slightly self-pitying. The reasons for it, however, are fourfold: Because I was intending at the ...
-
The third film of Quentin Tarantino is perhaps the least talked about and least appreciated. I don't remember ever seeing it at the cin...
-
Would you watch Memento in order? Perhaps you already have. Some might say the only value in the film is that of solving a complex puzzle. ...
No comments:
Post a Comment