By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Alden Ehrenreich | Carmen Maura | Klaus Maria Brandauer | Maribel Verdú | Vincent Gallo
Country: argentina, italy, spain, united_states
Year: 2009
Running time: 127
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0964185/
Diane says: “A hodgepodge from Coppola deals with creative genius and fraternal rivalry. The unevenness shows in the personnel: one character is wonderfully warm and realistic; a few are absurd; another is full of bombast, signifying nothing. Lead Vince Gallo hasn’t changed much since BUFFALO 66. Acting nom for Gallo’s significant other, Maribel Verdu, and for Alden Ehrenreich as Gallo’s younger brother. Klaus Maria Brandauer plays two roles. Not unlikeable, you can enjoy the film for the stunning high-contrast b/w cinematography alone. 3 cats”
Thom says: “Other than the fair reviews I can’t think of any particularly good reason I saw this disaster. I do think that Coppola is one of the most overrated filmmakers in the past 80 years. I loved THE CONVERSATION, THE GODFATHER I, & THE GODFATHER II, but while he’s had some decent other films along the way his overall output is sorely lacking the genius status he’s so often given. Here a young man (Bennie) working on a cruise ship travels to Buenos Aires to look up his worshipped, long-gone brother (Tetro). Tetro is misanthropic & a failed writer who lives with a beautiful, frustrated woman who can’t deal with the older fellow. Bennie hopes to renew his previous close bond with Tetro as well as getting him to complete his unfinished play. Tetro has also recently been in a terrible accident and has trouble walking. So what’s wrong with dreary mess? First off the characters are simply not interesting or memorable. Of course, they aren’t helped by two of the lead actors. How Vincent Gallo has had any career is a mystery indeed. He’s a weak actor who’s stuck on playing miserable roles. Even worse is young Alden Ehrenreich as Bennie who hasn’t a clue how to act and his lackluster reading is embarrassing. 1 cat”