Reviews

Barry Lyndon (Ryan O'Neal) is, by all means, an insignificant person, that fights in insignificant skirmishes during the war, and gets involved in insignificant romances.

At the end of the film, Marcello doesn't seem to be any more closer to finding out about his life as he was at the beginning of the film, but he does seem to be more at peace with just not knowing where "the sweet life" will lead him.

Much like the Jackal himself, there is a cold and distant approach to the film from director Fred Zinnemann, but for the most part it works.

Much like the subject of the film, Mank is a technically sound film with lots of things on his favor, but an ultimately spotty script and a distant direction that just doesn't let the viewer get in its drift; particularly if you're not familiar with the context and backstory.

I still have some issues with the climatic encounter, and I feel the film does lack a more concrete ending, but I still think the film is a pretty effective psychological thriller that can succeed in creating fear and anxiety.

I do think that the film is perhaps 10-20 minutes too long, and my cynical self thinks that the epilogue wasn't entirely necessary, but the truth is that after 2+ hours of following this characters as they keep going over the past, it was earned to see them move on and look forward to a future.

Like Chaney, there's a simplicity to the film that I think works to its advantage.

Watching this film as a kid, I ended up memorizing that verse.

A film nominated for a Best Picture or Best Int'l Feature Film this year

This is only my second Meyer film, so I'm by no means an expert, but it does seem to include the two ingredients that he's mostly known for: voluptuous women and edgy violence.