A modern noir story with early career performances from Josh Brolin and Reese Witherspoon, the film has it’s flaws, in particular some of the dialogue is a bit hackneyed, but it’s really interestingly structured as it twists and turns.
Opening on a night out gone wrong the film takes us back to show us how we’ve got to this point. The shifts in timeframe are smartly highlighted by the different colour palettes used, one a washed out spectrum of strong colours the other a clearer more naturalistic feel. It’s a neat device that also helps develop atmosphere of the film and events in progress.
It’s hard to talk too much about the plotting of the film without giving away moments that help drive film but there are clues present that not all might be as it is initially presented with background clues and small things like how characters react to ringing phones. Things that take on different meanings when you look back on them.
Brolin’s Bryce is a unlikeable show-off who finds himself crumbling under pressure, it’s a character that’s written not to be liked so it’s interesting that towards the end Brolin does make you feel some sympathy for him.
Alessandro Nivola doesn’t quite do enough to really bring the better sides of his character Nick, which does work against the film as you end questioning one of the key relationships in the film.
Meanwhile Reese Witherspoon shows here why she went on to forge a strong career (1999 also saw her excel in Election following turns in Cruel Intentions and Pleasantville), taking the most difficult part in the film to make work and doing an excellent job. She conveys a lot without speaking especially moving into the final third of the film.
After a couple of turns in it’s opening third the film does settle down but again as it comes to close throws in some surprising shifts that lead to a bitter sweet conclusion that I suspect will divide people on how well it works.
Aside from the colour usage the direction feels a bit like a TV drama rather than a feel apart from a few nicely framed sequences and it does have a bit of a habit of having conversation start in once location to cut to them being finished in another.
However another strong aspect is the soundtrack, both the choice of songs and the original score which from the outset sets an unsettling tone whilst also at times bringing out the sense of loss and listlessness which is at the heart of the story.
So this is Best Laid Plans, it does feel of it’s time quite strongly these days (you can imagine one key element of the story being worked differently these days) but it’s worth watch. Try not to second guess it too much and hopefully it’s surprise. The sort of smaller scale thriller you don’t see reach the cinema often anymore.
It’s on Amazon Video, Microsoft Store and iTunes (I also have a DVD a can lend out) if you want to watch it and let me know what you thought in the comments. (Definitely one easing to discuss in depth once watched!)
2 comments:
Done my homework! So here are some (probably not in any real sense of order) thoughts:
Some positive things – I liked the soundtrack or at least the score quite a lot. Some of the music really resonated with the scenes, and I liked some of the transitions that were used. You also had some good little elements going on with things like hearing the police / fire vehicles going by as we see Lissa arriving (presumably to deal with the bush fire that is a sort of plot point later on).
I think there was also a little nod to the films composer when Lissa gives Nick an album “The Space Between Us” – which it transpires was the debut album of Craig Armstrong who scored this film (along with Romeo and Juliet which together with the album title is also a nice little nod).
I liked the use of colour, which had a few things going on there. You had key scenes / locations defined by certain colours: red for the dinner they bookend between, the strange pink / purple of the house, the crazy purple green of the weird toilet corridor… The clash of colours between what the characters were wearing and that of the borrowed house also was a good way of reinforcing the fatc that they didn’t really belong there.
You also had characters defined with colour as well. Nick is almost always seen wearing red – he has a red shirt on throughout the opening scene, and typically some variation throughout the rest of the movie – he drives a red car and his uniform at work is also red. Lissa on the other hand is predominantly associated with a brown colour – wearing that colour when she was introduced and most of the subsequent scenes. As the two of them become a couple, she starts wearing some bits and pieces of red, while Nick also starts wearing bits and pieces of brown. The final shot has nicks back turned so it winds up just the two of them wearing brown.
Less good. The plot is a little bit of a train wreck – You have elements that work well, the opening Act works, and the first “reveal” going into flashback works OK – but then too long is spent on that second act. Having Nick and Lissa meet up, go through the whole coupling thing + then creating the conflict that leads them back into that first bookend takes too long for it to work effectively. You essentially spend to long away from the key narrative. When it does get back to it, it proceeds OK, but the second big “twist” really does feel very hollow (and also makes no sense – why on earth would the cunning plan to cheat money out of someone who has supposedly just inherited a load basically rely on that person having no money and being desperate enough to therefore take part in a crime) and the resolution just felt like a great big convenient reset button.
The cinematography I also felt was a bit ropey / inconsistent. There seemed to be a lack of a consistent style, with the choice between static camera shots and moving ones seemly occurring at random. Of particular note was the over use (and badly done) of the spinning camera around people while they talk effect that occurred during the opening act when Nick and Bryce have their big dramatic chat.
I think I like kind of core premise the film sets up – the couple come up with a crazy plan, which derails when the “mark” winds up doing something equally as crazy – but kind of feel that this should have been the focus for the film. The whole Dad dying, missed inheritance, trapped in the small town segment didn’t really add anything. Ultimately the whole “looking for a way to leave town” plot seemed fairly undeveloped and just kind came back a few times as an attempt to provide some form of motivation, but didn’t really.
So overall, had some interesting bits, but felt it missed it’s mark in a few places.
A good summary I think. I'm not surprised to see the director went on to a career in television rather than making any further films as the film does feel very tv like in a lot of places.
And it is very true that the final big reveal in the plot takes a lot of air out of things. It could have worked to remove that whole strand and put more time into building up the elements around the characters feeling trapped in the small town.
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