Elephant

Rating:
Summary: Most importantly, have fun
Review: "An ordinary high school day. Except that it's not." I dove into this movie due to some Listmania Lists I read on Amazon. While writing my review for Requiem for a Dream months ago, I saw several people place Elephant as a more powerful movie then Requiem for a Dream. I instantly placed Elephant on my "to see/rent," movie list. That was a mistake.

First, this movie is very cliché, and very unoriginal. I did not see anything in this movie that you did not read about in the stories regarding Columbine, everything from the scheme, reasoning, plot, and theme. Even the manner in which the event took place was strait from Columbine. Why not just change the movie title from Elephant to "Columbine, without research on the actual kids?"

Second, the characters are not developed at all. The movie is one hour and twenty minutes, and gives you about fifteen minutes takes of different kids lives, in different clicks. You have your cool kid w/a dead beat dad, your cool but different kid, your cool kid whose life revolves around his girl friend, your wannabe cool kids who resort to drastic measures to try and fit in, your not cool kid who doesn't feel she should have to change her ways because she's not trying to be cool, then you have your absolutely not cools kids (aka, the Trench Coat Mafia).

I must say, the two kids who make you "you know what" hit the fan, are as poorly developed characters as have ever appeared in the movie. I mean these two kids are supposed to be such outcasts that they feel they must resort to the most extreme, most drastic of measures. However, in the movie, what so bad happens to these two kids? One gets hit by a spitball, and while walking in the lunch line, one girl bumps shoulders with him, and she shows no regard for the fact he actually exists. Wow, oh my goodness, no wonder these kids flip out.

The second bad kid never has his story developed at all. Why does he live with his friend? Why does he not like school? Why does he not like his principal? Why do the others kids not like these two guys? It is never shown, no reason, maybe because one plays the piano, and the other one likes to play computer games.

Gus Van Sant (Finding Forrester, Good Will Hunting) does not make the effort, or take the time to make this movie what it should be. This is a very serious topic, and was not given a very serious effort in the making of it. That is obvious by the fact it is one hour and twenty minutes.

This movie had every chance to be a masterpiece, and instead, is not even worth a rental charge. I would not recommend this movie to anyone, I would strongly not recommend buying it or even renting it. Someone down the road will make a far superior movie on this topic then Gus Van Sant did.

Grade: D-


Rating:
Summary: Pretentious Claptrap about a topic that deserves much better
Review: This film was a product of PSEUDO-INTELLECTUALS and of PSEUDO-ARTISTES who know nothing about the subject they presumed to write about and had no respect for the tragic subject except as something to exploit. I was totally disappointed and disgusted, especially since this film could have had so much real meaning. Some criticism of American society and culture was absolutely required in order to do credit to the subject of mass killings in American schools. But my conclusion after seeing this film was that it was made solely in order to criticize American society. The tragedy of children dying was just convenient for exploitation. The screenplay was promising in its approach but it was LOADED down with anti-American bias. I don't appreciate paying to watch something only to realize it is actually propaganda masquerading as "art." The childish attempts at symbolism with the key killer wearing an Arc de Triomphe T-shirt, playing classical piano pieces reasonably well, then switching to a violent video game, indulging in a last-minute homosexual first kiss and then blowing his classmates and teachers away with absolutely no emotion was all done in a few minutes. It felt like this film was made for a French audience, particularly an "artistic" French film audience at Cannes. How could they not award this bit of kowtowing to their favorite shallow symbolisms: American violence, the corruption of youth by American industry (software, videogames, etc), specifically a "cultured" youth who would have been fine if he had lived near the Arc de Triomphe he admired instead of where he could order guns from the website GUNS USA, and some token homosexual impulses (a 5-second bit added almost as an afterthought). It had an alcoholic American father, the only parent we actually see in full form and who talks. The film opens with him sideswiping cars in his perfect American suburban neighborhood and no one noticing. I knew right then that these film makers had NO CLUE about real American life in a suburb or small town. The entire rest of the film only confirmed this for me. I actually used to check out Cannes awardees as an alternative to the usual Hollywood garbage. Well, I should have known better; this was Hollywood garbage that won at Cannes. Guess it's time for me to search out better film festivals.

Rating:
Summary: boring waste of time
Review: This one of the worst movies i have ever seen!! I kept watching it hoping it would get better. The ads said it was about highschool. It was more about watching people walk around in a home movie. Their was no point to it; no life to it; and I too would rather watch paint dry. The shooting scene was not disturbing at all to watch - because there was nothing to watch - it was boys shooting at things unseen. Everything in this movie was plain, drab and sterile.
I gues when a movie is strange and pointless, the award givers think there must be some hidden wonderful thing about it and so they offer them a prize. This film should be advertised for cures for insomniacs. They won't have any trouble sleeping - they will probably just dream about following people who are walking around