Word: shapelessness
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...talentless young reporter responding to a hard-boiled chief detective's "Gimme all you've got"; he has lots of facts and is obviously a tireless reporter, but it all just sits there. The Deliberate Stranger isn't a book; it's the murder file on Bundy, a shapeless compilation of everything Larson knows about Bundy, which isn't that much more than has already been printed in the papers many times. The mechanical narrative lacks all bite, which is both exasperating and immoral given the dramatic possibilities and the horror of the case. Larson has no human response...
...horse, was "smiling and relaxed in a blue blazer and beige slacks," A story on ghetto problems discusses a "black former newpaper publisher in a gray pinstripe suit." The "People" section of this weekly reveals that when Idi Amin walks down the strets of Saudi Arabia "he wears the shapeless white thobe gown and ghutra headcloth...
...believe that our everyday behavior doesn't truly reflect our character, which is altogether deeper, more astute, suffering and sensitive. The procedure is increasingly cosy and conspiratorial-we go to a Woody Allen film knowing exactly what to expect, and sure enough there it is, a flabby shapeless dish, occasionally spicy, but altogether sagging and apologetic...
...been preserved cryogenically for the past 20 years. The old Havana Hilton, built in the late fifties and a white elephant by our contemporary standards, is now the Free Havana and operates in the sweltering heat of the Caribbean climate without working air conditioning. Awkwardly heavy shoes, shapeless polyester pantsuits, and two-piece bathing suits that conceal instead of reveal make it obvious that the island has remained relatively insulated from the influence trends in the West since the U.S. broke off relations in 1962. Yet the appearance of stagnation is just that: a deceiving appearance that masks the profound...
Like Hazelhoff's story, the movie has about it the patchy, shapeless quality of reality. And that's the trouble. Soldier of Orange does not wear its slick, Hollywood style comfortably. All that gloss raises expectations of a more suspenseful narrative, stronger melodramatic payoffs. It is the sort of thing storytellers invent but reality rarely provides; the sort of thing that makes even silly efforts like Force 10 from Navarone or the recent Hanover Street seem mildly exciting. Something simpler, more documentary in manner would have suited Soldier of Orange better. As it stands, the movie is unsatisfying...