Review: The Reader
How?
How did this film get nominated for Best Picture?
The first 1/3 of the film is nothing but weird, confusing soft core porn that is just meandering on.
The next 1/3 is at least somewhat compelling. The actions of the characters make sense, but really are just infuriating.
The last 1/3 has you sitting there wanting the movie to fucking end. The resolution nullifies everything that was happening in the previous 30 minutes.
The acting is muddled and you can tell the actors themselves really don’t know what they’re characters should be feeling because the story is barely interesting and the film is searching the entire time for some grand meaning that it never even comes close to finding.
I think the biggest offense is that Stephen Daldry is nominated for Best Director. If you are to assume that he is responsible for the overall themes and mood of the film, he fell flat on his face. The man has been nominated for all 3 films he has made (Billy Elliott and The Hours), and all basically fall into this realm of poorly made films that fit a niche that older audiences eat up like candy, but anyone with a fresh perspective would throw out into the trash.
Awful. I would have walked out with 30 minutes left, but I wanted a true opinion.
