Watched this tonight on Netflix and very much enjoyed it. I found it very similar to Nightcrawler with Jake Gyllenhaal in terms of the pacing, aesthetic and tension. Fassbender is on top form and one of his best scenes involves him just staring across the table at Tilda Swinton with a completely expressionless look on his face.
The Morrisey/The Smiths soundtrack is very amusing.
__________________ All the silver-tongued suits and cartoons that rule my world
Are saying it's a high time for hypersonic missiles
It's a more predictable, linear story than Nightcrawler but the direct comparisons are very noticeable. Both characters are obsessive sociopaths although Fassbender is much more controlled and methodical and doesn't show a false personality like Lou Bloom does (but he never really has to cos he doesn't interact with normal people very much. Everyone he converses with are part of the same business he is so he doesn't have to fake being normal).
I really enjoyed it but then it has bits of extremely dark, deadpan humour as well as a few lashings of extreme violence and I always like me a bit of that.
Both characters also have their weird, repetitive mantras. If you wanna win the lottery you have to earn the money to buy a ticket. Stick to the plan. Anticipate, don't improvise. Stick to the plan.
__________________ All the silver-tongued suits and cartoons that rule my world
Are saying it's a high time for hypersonic missiles
^ I got a little tired of the repetitive voice over. But it was at least effectively interrupted the last couple of times.
But yeah, this was pretty good, although to me the climax came at the end of the 2nd act. That was a killer (no pun intended) sequence, with the Florida guy. The ending was a bit anticlimactic, but subtly effective and appropriate I guess.
8/10
David Fincher's cinematography and direction makes it really work.
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Sep 4th, 2023 08:14 PM
