13 Conversations About One Thing

Mesh · May 01, 2003, 01:35:52 PM

A. Dull, depressing, cliched script made barely tolerable by decent performances from Alan Arkin, Matthew McConaghey, and John Turturro. Sort of a poor man's Magnolia, except with a lukewarm, cliched redemptive ending (that holds only the palest candle to PTA's frog-rain/Amy Mann singalong masterstroke). Personally, I wouldn't waste my time with 13CAOT, if I were you...

B. What was the titular "one thing"? Any theories?

Ghostboy · May 01, 2003, 01:59:59 PM

I thought the one thing was pretty obviously supposed to be happiness. But I didn't like the movie either. Way too earnest and self-serious.

Mesh · May 01, 2003, 03:05:45 PM

Quote from: GhostboyI thought the one thing was pretty obviously supposed to be happiness.

I thought this too; then I thought "Could this film possibly be that cliched and boring and trite? It has to be some other 'one thing.'"

Ernie · May 01, 2003, 04:01:49 PM

Yeah, didn't like this one much. Probably the most unrealistic dialogue and relationships I've ever seen a film...people constantly talking about happiness and how to achieve happiness and fucking bad poetry type stuff...people just don't interact like that, at least I don't think so.

cowboykurtis · May 01, 2003, 04:59:44 PM

i thought the film was extremely self conscious. i would have liked to see the screenplay handled by a different director. id be curious to see if a change in directorial tone would remedy the constrained awkward feeling of the pciture.

Mesh · May 01, 2003, 05:21:56 PM

Quote from: cowboykurtisid be curious to see if a change in directorial tone would remedy the constrained awkward feeling of the pciture.

Nah.

That script was just so flat and trite.

So, like, why did Arkin's character mush his two underlings' stories together during that first scene (he said the "Smiley" character was the one who won the lottery)? What was I supposed to have inferred from that....

Such a weak movie....

chainsmoking insomniac · May 01, 2003, 05:42:48 PM

Uh, well Alan Arkin was great in it. And so was Clea Duvall. Calling it a poor man's Magnolia....that's kind of harsh. The script wasn't that bad. I think it could have used another director, I will agree with you there....and if you listen to the Director's Commentary, the schedule that they had to shoot on was very constraining...I give it 3 out of five

Gold Trumpet · May 01, 2003, 05:57:15 PM

I liked this movie a lot. Calling the script dull, depressing and cliche really isn't right at all. I do understand it is obvious what they are talking about for many occasions, but it never fulfills on really talking about everything and giving all the answers, like a bad movie would. It talks about the situations these people are in, but the main point is that their still is a great ambiguilty to what it all really means for these characters. They are all searching for the same thing, but no one can really identify what happiness really means and the following along with these characters through their episodes is good enough. I'll give it 3 and a half out of 4.

~rougerum

Alethia · May 01, 2003, 08:58:39 PM

i really loved this movie as well -- and roger ebert called it BRILLIANT!!!!

Duck Sauce · May 01, 2003, 10:41:57 PM

Quote from: ewardi really loved this movie as well -- and roger ebert called it BRILLIANT!!!!

that is so important.

I remember really liking this movie at first, but I think time has caused me to ease off it and see a lot of the flaws. Im not talking about all the "sounds like it was written by a woman" shit, but it was without spirit in a couple of different ways. I didnt like the whole "body... falling, say from a building..." thing. Still enjoyed it.

BonBon85 · May 01, 2003, 11:03:03 PM

It kind of reminded me of a Woody Allen movie, but I certainly prefer the majority of Allen's movies to 13 Conversations.

Alethia · May 02, 2003, 06:43:49 AM

it actually kinda reminded me of hannah and her sisters more than anything else, in structure and tone

Duck Sauce · May 02, 2003, 10:22:21 AM

Quote from: BonBon85It kind of reminded me of a Woody Allen movie, but I certainly prefer the majority of Allen's movies to 13 Conversations.

only sans the humor

Mesh · May 02, 2003, 05:04:40 PM

Quote from: punchdrunk23
A. Uh, well Alan Arkin was great in it. And so was Clea Duvall.

B. Calling it a poor man's Magnolia....that's kind of harsh.

C. The script wasn't that bad

D. ...the schedule that they had to shoot on was very constraining

E. ...I give it 3 out of five

A. He was acceptably good. She was tolerable at best.

B. No, it's not. It went for that same "We're all connected in our misery," small-world kind of rhetoric. Overdone even if you don't count Magnolia and done better over and over (Short Cuts, anyone?).

C. Yeah, it was bad. Not because it stumbled or stalled (although it did, at points) but because it was riddled with cliched phrasework and ideas.

D. Far better films have been made on far shorter schedules, I'm sure.

E. 2 out of 5, tops.

Mesh · May 02, 2003, 05:13:20 PM

Quote from: The Gold TrumpetCalling the script dull, depressing and cliche really isn't right at all.

Why not? It was about a bunch of white people letting life's annoyances and mishaps get them down. Dull because the direction was flat and lifeless and the cinematography looked almost comically "indie." Cliche, because among other things, Duvall's character "nearly died" and now thinks "Oh, there must be a reason I was saved...There just has to be!" God damn. What a bunch of trite horseshit.