Review: The Favourite
The next of my marathon of Best Picture nominee reviews, The Favourite. The film is an 18th century period piece in England, focusing on some miserable people and... duck races?
I'll kick off this review with some positives. So every review of this film, good or bad, would be lying if they failed to mention the performances. They truly are incredible and I think that this movie could definitely steal some of the acting Oscars. It paints a dramatic story, yet it manages to incorporate a few laughs. Unfortunately, that is really where my positives end.
So let's talk about the bad. To be totally honest, I am going to have a lot of fun with this part. It has been a few years since I have had a similar feeling about a film; since I have been so painfully bored out of my mind that I decided to start writing the review during the last half hour. One might argue that the period of the movie did not call for massive action or crazy twists and turns, but I would completely disagree. It is very possible to make an 18th century period piece and have a scene that is more interesting than a duck race (by far the peak of this film). Not to say that watching paint dry would be an equivalent to this plot, but I have to imagine that it is close.
My next complaint comes with the fact that the movie seemed to have an identity crisis. It set up several moments for a solid joke, but would shy away on it before any payoff. It was a constant battle between trying to be a very adult drama and attempting to become a parody. PICK A SIDE! Either way, consistency would have made it far more enjoyable than the final product.
Yet another issue that I have with this film was much smaller in scale but equally annoying. The camera shots would frequently switch to a view that felt more like a security camera than a motion picture. I would hope that this can serve as the prime example of why such a camera angle does not work.
My final complaint complaint comes fresh as I have just finished watching the film. After a two hour journey of boredom, I can officially say that even the ending falls flat. With a few more artistic scenes and a bit of a twist, the credits roll. In all of its disappointing glory, the screen fades to black.
I would like to reiterate that none of this mess falls upon the actors, rather the identity crisis, poor artistic choices, and the complete lack of anything interesting to push the plot.
I am really trying to figure out who this movie is intended for, but it most definitely is not your average film fan; especially not me. Please listen to my warning, this is the one to skip.
