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Wasted 2 hours of my life

Author: Thatoneguyimet from United States
23 January 2013
 

Great actors, horrible movie. The story was rambling, confused, and seemed to be dark just to be dark.

The narration was horrible; Macy Gray is incoherent throughout. I'm sure there was a reason to have a narrator, but the fact that she was completely unable to be understood kind of eliminates the benefit.

Characters were poorly developed and there was never any build up to explain their behavior.

The director seemed to be searching for ways to degrade every character over and over and over. This movie was disturbing without any redeeming quality at all.

Don't waste your time or your money.

6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:

Worthless smelly garbage

Author: thunderhead from United States
13 July 2013

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Despite strong performances from some of the actors(Cusack was pretty creepy), none of the characters in this film vaguely resembles any person who has actually lived on this planet. There are only one-dimensional stereotypes and excuses to insert "shocking twists" into a rather unimportant and undeveloped "story".

You have a reporter(?) out to expose the truth about a wrongful conviction. A woman obsessed with a imprisoned killer who says it's because he is innocent, but really she just doesn't think she deserves any better. A housekeeper who is narrating the story(who is difficult to understand) for some unknown person for some unknown purpose. A kid who sits around and feels jealous of everyone else's relationships and pines for the previously mentioned prison groupie, because, well as is the norm in this film who knows(or cares for that matter).But it is insinuated because she reminds him of his mommy. And she is of course unrealistically hot for a prison groupie. These characters are not explained or developed in any meaningful way aside from the fact that the boy has mommy abandonment issues, the reporter is ashamed by his homosexual desire for black men and, oh white people were really racist back in the day. And swamp people walk around naked with dead alligators hanging everywhere. And eat ice cream out of pots. And I guess they had not yet invented air-conditioning or indoor plumbing whenever this film was supposed to take place. Because most of the characters are covered in dirt and sweat throughout.

These characters serve only as a prop, as does the story and film itself for the writer/director's desire to "shock" the audience and show how brave they are for using the "n-word" and showing taboo things like masturbation, rape, gay bondage rape and alligator guts. Oh and don't forget pointless urination and the constant reminder that the world is and has always been a terrible place and any attempts to do the right thing will be met with disappointment and murder.

They do not develop any tension in the so-called story relating to the completely inconsequential investigation and consistently have every major plot development off screen. Focusing mostly on the fantasies (twisted and otherwise) of I presume the writer. A complete waste of time and film. All concerned should be ashamed to be associated with this cinematic cum stain.

12 out of 20 people found the following review useful:

One of the 2 WORST Movies I've ever seen!

Author: hugh-584-419666 from United States
17 January 2013

Pointless - deliberately shocking and senseless. The vulgarity was inane. Whoever wrote this is in a very dark place. Careers can be made by one great role (Pacino as Michael Corleone). Careers have been ruined in the same manner. Kidman, McConaughey, and Cusack have deteriorated to porn star level. We watched the movie because of past film performances of these actors. They are now on our DO NOT WATCH list. We could never watch another film of theirs and not think of this disgrace. No doubt this film was made for its shock and sex value. Artistically it equals the efforts of junior high school. If it was supposed to be an attack on Southerns, it missed its mark. "The Help" accurately portrayed the Southern temperature - not this tripe. Hollywood has sunk to a "disturbing place".

4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:

Pointless

Author: memyselfblogger from South Africa
7 September 2013

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

While the acting is pretty good and the film explores some very interesting ideas, it sadly has no point whatsoever. The storyline severely lacks any kind of line and leaves you feeling like you've wasted your time. Weird flashback techniques occasionally overly subtle script make it difficult to understand or enjoy. I found the scenes where Hillary and Charlotte engage exceptionally disturbing and unnecessary. Issues with love, self-acceptance and racism are well dealt with and carried by outstanding acting, however the movie falls apart because the nonsensical storyline doesn't pull anything together and fails miserably to garner any understanding or interest. Very disappointed.

4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:

This may be the worst movie I've ever watched.

Author: imartz123 from california
14 July 2013

Albeit the concept of the movie was compelling, and certainly the star quality is impressive, the story is simply over the top of AWFUL! It confuses the audience with too many unnecessary and disturbing graphic images. It did what every movie maker wants by permeating my thoughts but in a nightmarish way. The story simply didn't need to be told. It seemed the director only made it for its shock value. The movie was so horribly graphic I needed to fast forward though parts of the violence hoping some purpose or substance to the story would reveal itself afterward. Usually it did not. I would be curious to discuss it with the actors. I can't imagine any of them having any pride of ownership after this movie.

7 out of 11 people found the following review useful:

Self Indulgence at its finest....

Author: Niko Miller from United States
25 January 2013

What a self-indulgent piece of crap....3 actors exploring the darker sides of themselves? How the f#ck did they get a routinely great actor like John Cusack to sign up for this.....

And Nicole Kidman (a fantastically beautiful woman)....did she undergo drastic botox treatments for the part?

Every single cliché pulled out of a Harry Crews novel about swamps, Florida and the people who live there is contained in this movie. Did this director have one original idea?

This movie wasn't even good enough at being bad to make me watch and see how much worse it could get.

Really, really, really BAD.

14 out of 25 people found the following review useful:

Paperboy

Author: Cheryl6750 from United States
27 January 2013

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Most disturbing movie I have ever seen. How in the world did Lee Daniels put his name on this movie. And how did he get this kind of talent to do this movie. ALL time worse movie. I was hopeful when I saw who was starring in this movie. I am puzzled as to why someone would write a book of this nature and further puzzled that a movie was made with this theme. I can honestly say I couldn't believe what I was watching but I stuck it out until the end. Wish I had stopped half way through the movie because it only got worse. I have never given this kind of critique to a movie. I usually think enjoyment of a movie is a personal experience. I can't imagine anyone enjoying this movie.

3 out of 5 people found the following review useful:

Painful

Author: John E Chandler from Rome, NY
6 March 2013

I really wanted to finish the movie, but it was so uninteresting and silly that I didn't care how it ended and spent the last half hour I missed of it doing something constructive like returning this movie to the video store and paying the late fee. The person I was watching this with was thankful to me for speaking up and not torturing them any further. I expected something from this movie. Not something more, just something at all. Imagine the Lincoln Lawyer meets Boogie Nights meets Deliverance and somehow make a movie combining all the elements; but somehow do it with actors that are making the movie to get a paycheck and an editor that has a billion projects going at once.

5 out of 9 people found the following review useful:

VERY disturbing

Author: bianca_man from Ohio, USA
22 March 2013

WARNING! DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE! The movie was very obscene and disturbing. It was all just rape, murder, and racism. It is pretty rare for such great actors to play in such a bad movie, but this was definitely one of those cases. I don't recommend watching it; you'll just lose 2 hours of your life. I don't usually regret anything, but I do regret watching this movie. I'm writing this review to warn you before you watch it. I know I wish somebody warned me before.. But everybody to his taste; some of you might consider this interesting, some of you might like violent movies-for whatever reason-but there really are LOTS of disturbing scene, most of the movie is, really. At the end of the movie, my first thought was " I REALLY hate that movie.", followed by " This movie makes me lose faith in humanity.." and "My stomach is kinda upset now". The trailer of the movie was OK-that's how I got to watch it in the first place-but now that I take a second look and read the comments too, I realize that I could have done a little research before that and spared myself some time.

A disgusting film in every respect

Author: robert-temple-1 from United Kingdom
4 August 2014

There are not enough unfavourable adjectives to describe this disgusting, revolting, offensive, and deeply sick film. Presumably people are watching it because Nicole Kidman is in it. But she has really demeaned herself by having anything to do with this project. She plays a 'wild Southern girl' who laughs with a crazy look in her eye, but all her performance amounts to is simply a good Juliette Lewis impersonation. OK, so Kidman has proved that despite being an Australian, she can imitate an American Southern accent of a 'poor white trash' girl passably well. Isn't she clever? So versatile! But everything about the film, and that certainly includes the psychologically deranged character she plays, is so utterly disgusting that Kidman might as well make a new career for herself in hard core porn films, if that is the kind of admiration she is seeking. So low does she sink, that at one point we actually see a closeup of urine pouring out of her backside. Well that is good for the perverts who get excited by urinating women. Well done, Kidman, that's a great step forward in your career. The director, co-producer and co-writer of this horrible film is called Lee Daniels. I would not want to be his psychiatrist. And I hope I never meet him, as I would feel required to disinfect myself all over. John Cusack has also demeaned himself by playing a psychopathic killer so intensely that the lust to kill slops all over the screen like treacle. David Oyelowo is meant to be playing a good guy, but his acting style is so irritating, artificial and over-mannered that he should give up film acting if he cannot do better than that. Scott Glenn is his usual sturdy self, with not much of a part, however. Zac Efron does a good job as a decent young man who becomes obsessed by the decadent and insane Kidman character. Matthew McConaughey also does well in an over-the-top role as Efron's brother. The best, and only sympathetic, performance is the film is by Macy Gray, a very sensitive black actress. She could do with a bit of speech therapy because it is not always possible to hear her words distinctly, and I am not referring to the heavy accent required for her character but to her apparent inability to enunciate so that an audience can make out everything she is saying. Otherwise, she glows like a pearl in this dung heap of a film.