Thr3e (2007)
[Requested by Andy Nowicki.]
I try not to let tragedy interfere with my judgment in these reviews. Still, I think I'm going to have to pull a few punches on this one. I mean, I know the screenplay is credited to some guy named Alan B. McElroy, but I think that's out of sensitivity -- the real author here should be obvious. I guess I can understand his family wanting to shield his name from being tarnished, what with his unexpected and tragic death in an automobile accident a few years back, and even in the face of such a loss it has to be admitted that this screenplay -- indeed, this idea -- was never very good. It was always kind of foolish and hackneyed, with a twist in the tail that craps on any semblance of credibility... but dammit, it was his idea and now he's gone and we should respect that. So instead of picking apart the myriad idiocies and physical/psychic impossibilities of Thr3e or complaining about the indifferent direction and the mediocre, soap-opera-level acting (aside from Bill Moseley, who gives the film a late, much-needed shot of weirdo juice), I will instead defer to his long-suffering mother, who called it "psychologically taut." I will say, though, that they should have kept the chase scene between the car and the horse. I think the original author would have liked that.
Grade: D+
[Requested by Andy Nowicki.]
I try not to let tragedy interfere with my judgment in these reviews. Still, I think I'm going to have to pull a few punches on this one. I mean, I know the screenplay is credited to some guy named Alan B. McElroy, but I think that's out of sensitivity -- the real author here should be obvious. I guess I can understand his family wanting to shield his name from being tarnished, what with his unexpected and tragic death in an automobile accident a few years back, and even in the face of such a loss it has to be admitted that this screenplay -- indeed, this idea -- was never very good. It was always kind of foolish and hackneyed, with a twist in the tail that craps on any semblance of credibility... but dammit, it was his idea and now he's gone and we should respect that. So instead of picking apart the myriad idiocies and physical/psychic impossibilities of Thr3e or complaining about the indifferent direction and the mediocre, soap-opera-level acting (aside from Bill Moseley, who gives the film a late, much-needed shot of weirdo juice), I will instead defer to his long-suffering mother, who called it "psychologically taut." I will say, though, that they should have kept the chase scene between the car and the horse. I think the original author would have liked that.
Grade: D+
3 Comments:
Very funny and insightful at the same time! It took me a while to understand the ADAPTATION reference, and damn, you sure do have a point-- it's pretty much the same script one of the Nick Cage characters was working on...
I actually found THREE entertaining, in spite of its obvious deficiencies acting-wise and ridiculous premise; it kind of has balls, in a way-- being so out there and yet so shamelessly derivative in so many ways, from the obvious "Jigsaw"-like voice of the killer to the FIGHT CLUB/IDENTITY-style twist ending. And claiming theological significance to boot! You gotta admire a movie that's got its fingers in so many pies, even if it's not terrribly adept in its execution. Using your scale, I give it a C+. --Andy Nowicki
it kind of has balls, in a way-- being so out there and yet so shamelessly derivative in so many ways
I'll agree with you on that -- there is something rather amusing about a film that cops moves and pieces from so many well-known genre films on the presumption that its intended audience (i.e. the heavily Christian) won't have seen the originals.
Yeah, in fact, the very title is a rip-off or an homage-- whichever you prefer-- to David Fincher's "Se7ven." The whole schtick of the name of the movie being a number written out as a word, with the number in the middle...
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home