Aaron's Thoughts
Luca will always be one of my guys, but I’m sad to report that this isn’t him at his best. A chamber piece is already not ideal for his sensibilities, but that’s made worse by a weak script. He does what he can with what he’s got, but you can only do so much with a script that bad.
It starts out really solid, but the longer it goes the more tedious it becomes & the more it lectures. There is so much philosophical/intellectual talk that it made me want to gag. One scene in particular feels like people in rooms just saying smart words that don’t actually mean anything. Just very pretentious.
It felt weird how none of the cast really seemed interested in engaging in conversation during the Q&A. They almost shuddered every time a question about the subject of the film came up & then rambled about how much they loved the cast or loved Luca.
I really love what the film is going for & that it’s basically a noir. The idea of neither the older generation or the younger generation being medicated by the right thing (drugs/alcohol vs. therapy) is fascinating. No matter what you medicate with, most of us are still extremely flawed. It would be easier to just look in the mirror and admit that, but that’s not as fun as blaming others. Really cool idea for a movie, right? I think so too! Just a bummer we couldn’t have had someone like Sammy Burch write the screenplay.
All that said, I’m happy to report that Michael Stuhlbarg remains undefeated in Luca films! He steals the show here.
The excellent cast (minus Edebiri because I’m honestly not sure she can act) & the foundational ideas of the film are enough to make it watchable. Even if the screenplay keeps it from being great.
