http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0814314/
dir: gabriele muccino
stars: will smith, rosario dawson, woody harrelson
genre: drama
basic plot: one mans' attempt at redemption
recommended: yes
this was a movie that i was really excited to find on watch instantly. i queued it up and watched it as soon as i saw that it was available. i wanted to see this movie ever since i saw the trailer for it. it looked really interesting and i couldnt get a grasp of what the story was about at all since both movie title and trailer were pretty vague. i figured that meant that it would be either really good or horrible, thankfully it was the former.
ive been really bummed out recently with a lot of the movie trailers that i've been seeing. it seems like people in hollywood are making the same movies over and over again with predictable plots and bad actors. obviously there aren't many new stories to be told, but i think that there are plently of variations of these stories to be told.
the format of this movie is one that i'm always a sucker for, a mix of past, present and future events organized in a way in which the story line isnt comprimised early on and it really engages the viewer. i found myself constantly questioning and trying to figure out what will smith's character was trying to do throughout the movie.
i was really impressed by the acting of all of the actors in this film, especially will smith. in roles like this and the pursuit of happyness he shows that he has what it takes to deliver heart wrenching and truthful performances. it's pretty hard to believe that this is coming from the dude who gave the world getting jiggy wit it.
the end offers a couple of twists which i personally wasnt really expecting. i think that the movie ends realisticly, which i always enjoy over the textbook storytell ending.
if you liked movies like crash or lost in translation, you'll really like this film
