This movie is one of the top films in the stalker genre and for good reason. It manages to be endearing and funny without detracting from the seriousness and depravity of its subject matter. In many ways this is the movie that Taxi Driver wanted to be, being much clearer about its characters’ motivations and more coherent overall.
Closest comparison: It’s like Joker (2019) by way of Taxi Driver.
Setting: Corporate Drama
Plot: Stalker Thriller
Tone: Awkward Dramedy
This is a three and a half hour long film that any competent director could have made in one third the time without leaving anything out. It is painfully slow and insistently pointless, and the plot reads like a first draft run-on sentence, though the acting is fine, with Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci doing pretty well, but still just looking like the weathered statues of gangsters standing out in the rain, which does nothing for the story or the dryness with which it is told, where the editing could have been very helpful but instead actively inhibits the storytelling, and the extensive use of excellent CGI to de-age the main cast 20-30 years makes them look like they’re in their late 60’s playing characters in their 30’s, and the editing isn’t bad enough to be funny but isn’t good enough to be poor, although Scorsese has an eye for framing and set design that makes the images pop the scenes are ultimately still a very poor level of cinematography because of the still camera and boring staging, and in a movie about gangsters there’s no reason to have over three hours of the run time dedicated to meaningless interpersonal politics that don’t really go anywhere and never amount to anything more than ‘this guy doesn’t like that guy for no good reason’, but doesn’t even have the decency to end once the plot has been resolved but drones on and on and on and on until finally.
Closest comparison: It’s like a less interesting Casino (1995) with the pacing of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Setting: Political Drama
Plot: Gangster
Tone: Drama Epic
This movie is all over the place and extremely reluctant to explain anything, including character motivations. The audience is left to infer a lot, leaving much of the movie open to a lot of inconclusive speculation. It is a sleazy, hectic movie whose soundtrack uses city sound byte sampling at seemingly random times when it’s not layering on the easy-listening jazz at uncomfortable times. The main character is so unpredictable and unemotive that it’s impossible to tell what makes him happy, sad, or angry, even past the end of the film, which makes interpreting his motives nearly impossible. The nicest thing I can say about this relic of the 70’s is that it has good acting.
Content warning: violence, prostitution
Closest comparison: It’s like Joker (2019) by way of Apocalypse Now.
Setting: Noir Drama
Plot: Slice of Life
Tone: Gritty Tragedy
This movie is equal parts depressing, energizing, and consistently though mildly intense. The acting and cinematography are excellent and constitute almost the entire reason so see the movie, but the writing, while not bad, isn’t great. It’s slow but not especially thoughtful, it’s sad but not particularly meaningful, it’s a villain’s origin story without a big sendoff ending (though it certainly does crescendo). Fans of the other renditions of the Joker will be disappointed that this version doesn’t seem to be having any fun, and fans of Batman won’t be rewarded with the tie-in they’re looking for. It’s explicitly apolitical, but like Black Panther leaves room for everyone to read into it what they want. Ultimately, it reads like an honest look at depressed mentally ill man, and as such it’s pretty good.
Content warning: mental illness, child abuse
Closest comparison: It’s like Inside Llewyn Davis crossed with 8 Mile to make a villain origin story with the pacing and tone of Ad Astra.
Setting: Family Tragedy
Plot: Decent into Madness
Tone: Arthouse Tragedy
On the whole this is just your standard action flick. It looks really good and the action sequences are slightly above average, but the plot plods along exactly as you might expect. Robert De Niro and Clive Owen elevate the average acting level significantly and Jason Statham is Jason Statham. Apparently it’s based on a true story, which improves some of the mondanity quite a bit. The film isn’t great and it isn’t terrible, but it doesn’t offer anything beyond that.
Closest Comparison: Ronin crossed with The Bourne Ultimatum
