Aaron's Thoughts
I’m certainly not here to say that Opus is great, but I do feel like it’s not gotten a fair shake in the take cycle.
I think it’s a bit silly to knock the film just because its structure is similar to a host of other films from the past decade. After all, aren’t most genre movies (whether horror, action, or sci fi) structurally pretty similar? What ultimately matters to me is what a film does in that structure.
Whether you like Opus or not, you can’t deny that it is unique in how it fills up and uses that structure. Plus it actually feels like it has a lot to say about celebrity & about journalism. My issue with the film is that it doesn’t explore what it’s trying to say near enough. I think it does have something unique to say & ideas, just not sure they are communicated effectively. That feels much more like a first time filmmaker still trying to find their voice than anything else. Which is why I don’t think it’s necessarily fair to crucify the film.
It just feels so much more like a journalism movie than it does a movie about the rich and powerful, which I liked. Maybe I just like the examination of where celebrity and journalism intersect. Maybe I just like the people involved. Either way, it wasn’t atrocious, just flawed.
