Cloverfield Review
by Steve Rhodes (steve DOT rhodes AT internetreviews DOT com)January 17th, 2008
CLOVERFIELD
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2008 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
CLOVERFIELD is a cute concept but little more. Devoid of any genuine character development or notable acting, the film is a slapdash affair which manages to be neither funny nor frightening.
Wanting badly to be a BLAIR WITCH PROJECT for the latest batch of teenagers, the film is successful only in the design of its trailers and in its impressive sound effects.
The designers of the movie's trailers have more confidence in the viewers than the movie itself. The trailers are careful not to give away too much about what disaster has struck Manhattan. And they cast it as all part of some big government cover-up. Most of all, the trailers remind us that none other than J.J. Abrams is associated with the movie. While Abrams is famous for being the creator of "Lost," his role in CLOVERFIELD is just as one of the producers. His skillful hand is not visibly present in the results.
The movie has three distinct stages. The first twenty minutes occur at a going away party for Rob Hawkins (Michael Stahl-David), a generic looking twentysomething guy. Someone at the party hands a camcorder to Hud Platt (T.J. Miller) and tells him to make video clips of remembrances for Rob.
You and I -- and everyone else -- know how to handle a camcorder without making like we are in a boat on a choppy sea and how to frame people so that most of their heads aren't chopped off. But, this being the movies, director Matt Reeves wants to induce maximum motion sickness in the audience, figuring that, if the viewers don't feel like puking, they might demand their money back, so Rob makes like he is a kindergartener with a camcorder. Absolutely nothing of interest happens during this entire twenty minute section.
The second and by far the most promising part of the entire production occurs in a five minute interlude in which disaster strikes and no one can figure out what is happening, who is causing it and why. But, unlike the trailers which clearly want to be intriguing but elusive, the movie feels that a brief five minutes of suspense is enough.
In comes the monster and out goes the interest in the film. The rest of this thankfully short production has a small group of young adults running around New York trying to rescue a friend who has been trapped in one of the many crumbling buildings.
The entire movie is shown via the camcorder, which is held without any skills whatsoever by Hud. Given that the movie shows no inclination in developing any of the characters, it should come as no surprise that we don't care in the slightest when anyone on the screen dies.
A bad film, poorly shot and minimally scripted, the movie is a disappointment and a boring one at that.
CLOVERFIELD runs 1:25. It is rated PG-13 for "violence, terror and disturbing images" and would be acceptable for kids around 12 and up.
My son Jeffrey, age 18, said that he was really torn about this movie, since he wanted so much to be able to like it, but he felt like it hurt his eyes and could induce seizures because of its flashing lights and heavy use of the shakycam. He was upset that there were no surprises and that the movie gave everything away so quickly. But, since he did like some of the story and since he was scared a little bit, he gave it **. In contrast, his girlfriend Yasmin, also 18, gave it *** 1/2, saying that she found the film really, really awesome and that it was like a documentary that she could watch again and again.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, January 18, 2008. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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