Monday, November 12, 2012

Entertainment Not Guaranteed


The Ad from Safety Not Guaranteed

          Indie movies go one of two ways.  They are either incredibly intimate, important, sad, sweet, and unique portraits of stories and people, or they are boring excuses to watch people move around apartments, pour coffee, scowl in mirrors and live their ordinary lives to a sparse and warbling soundtrack.  For every truly stellar indie movie like Little Miss Sunshine, Once, and Chronicle, there are a hundred truly terrible films pretending to be entertainment.  When I first heard about Safety Not Guaranteed, a movie about a strange, grizzly man who posts an ad in the paper looking for a partner to travel through time, I was weirdly excited about it.  It seemed to have whimsy and charm to spare.  However, and maybe it was because when I watched it at night, but I found myself falling asleep, totally disillusioned with the whole story.  It was simply-lacking.  There is a story in small moments, but when the characters and moments don't connect, it's just darn boring.  Perhaps with a strong cup of coffee and an early morning start, I could give the movie a second chance, but honestly, I just don't want to. Here's hoping some of the other indie movies I've waited to see aren't quite so painful.  Jessie and Celeste Forever, I'm holding out hope for you.

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