By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Stephen Chbosky
Starring: Dylan McDermott | Emma Watson | Ezra Miller | Logan Lerman | Mae Whitman | Nina Dobrev
Country: united_states
Year: 2012
Running time: 102
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1659337/combined
Scot says: “I wept through the film to an embarrassing degree, but I recall also doing so reading the book. That said, I my two caveats are that the cast is a bit too pretty, though fine actors. And that Dylan McDermott is entirely wrong for his part.”
Julie says: “I loved this one! Yeah the trailer does not do it justice at all! Toni you’re so right about the music and there was some great music in the movie as well (I thought), that would have been a better choice…..
“And Scot I totally agree with everything you said below – and really what WAS up with casting Dylan McDermott?
“Ezra Miller really shined in this one! 5 cats”
Toni says: “PERKS was a solid film and it a way I think was mis-marketed in the sense that it was more of a serious story that it was given credit for. After reading the book it helped and then finally seeing the film after all of the hype and to think that Ezra was also in WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN does show the depth of his character along with Logan Lerman’s performance. It was an interesting pick to cast the Tom Savni as the shop teacher since he is well known in the horror film genre :)…
“They should have used the Cocteau Twins or the song Sing Me to Sleep and they would have helped sell it to me there…it is weird though I think a few scenes with the twist of the story worked better in the book in relation to Aunt Helen although it is interesting that she was also in Peter Jackson’s HEAVENLY CREATURES years ago. I do agree there is a nice crop of Best Movie films to pick from (BULLHEAD is still personally my favorite but is really tough to choose)…something for everyone :).”
Pete says: “I thought Ezra was more intriguing in WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN than PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER. I was surprised KEVIN didn’t get nominated in any category this year although it qualified for the 2012 nominations. I would have voted for Ezra in that film before PERKS. I also agree that Dylan McDermott was miscast as the bullied and troubled outcast. He was much too good looking to be taunted at school. The girls would have been all over him.”
Kyle says: “I decided to chime in on the Ezra Miller exchange. To me great acting is in the details, and sometimes it is the accumulation of those details in more than one performance that make an actor’s strongest impact. Having seen WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN after I had seen THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER, I was stunned by the range of human emotions in Ezra Miller’s acting. His scene in the latter with Logan Lerman in the park, during which he reveals his vulnerability and pain, which his stylishness and wit had been concealing, is heart-breaking. But talk about pity and terror: In the former, few exchanges can match that scene between mother and son, first ‘You don’t look happy’ and his answer, ‘Have I ever?’ and ‘I want you to tell me why’ followed by a long pause, and ‘I used to think I knew; now I’m not so sure.’ Ezra Miller gives us the slightest opening into the almost unimaginable pain Kevin has been in his entire life, the rage of which centers on his mother. I think Tilda Swinton’s Eva is a truly great performance, taking us to the darkest of dark places with totally unsentimental clarity. It was widely praised in Europe, but in America only the Austin Film Critics awarded her Best Actress. If you see WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN for a second time, observe how little actual screen time Ezra Miller has, and how vivid every moment of that performance is.”