Word: contrivedness
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The only flaw preventing Darabont's triumphant second effort from being perfect is the manner in which the story begins and ends. Told as a flashback by an older Edgecomb sixty years after the fact, the story opens with scenes that take place in the present. This set-up at...
European art film, especially of the contemporary Cannes Film Festival marquis, continues on its exclusionary march toward a self-selected and well-informed audience with the addition of Pedro Almodvar's 13th full length film, All About My Mother. This film weaves together a beautifully crafted, though at times maudlin...
The film's artistry borders on the over-done as the melodrama envelops the audience. The wallpaper patterns are reminiscent of '60s acid tripping posters, and the rooms seem too perfectly contrived. While red is normally a color used on camera to draw attention to an actress in a scene...
It sounds contrived, and it is. Worse, the plot suffers from a pervasive staleness. It's as if Schumacher, who both wrote and directed, simply recycled bits and pieces of old scripts. Flawless deals with weighty stuff in tolerance, illness, identity crises, but it doesnt bother to say anything new...
The cast, as well, is small, with several actors playing multiple roles. Most notable among the student actors are Knapp and Sack as Anne and Maurice respectively. As Halder's lover, Anne tackles some of the plays most contrived lines--"if we are good to those around us...what more...