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Never Let Me Go starring Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield & Keira Knightley

Posted on March 2, 2012 Written by ripitup

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never let me go movie poster
Never Let Me Go starring Andrew Garfield, Carey Mulligan & Keira Knightley.

 

Never Let Me Plot  (with minor spoilers)

It is the late 70s. Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Ruth (Keira Knightley) and Tommy (Andrew Garfield) go to a strict English boarding school where they are not allowed to go outside the school perimeters and their health is observed with suspicious scrutiny.

As one teacher points it out, these are not regular children. They are clones who were created so that they would grow up to be organ donors. And it is not just one time, one organ. Their “mission” will be to donate as much as their body allows. Most die during their second or third time. And dying is the ultimate accomplishment, the fulfillment of their purpose.

These clones, apart from the restricted upbringing, are pretty much like other children. They learn about subjects, play in the schoolyard, make friends and even fall in love. But by the time they are allowed outside contact, they wouldn’t know how to exist in a world outside the one created for them.

As they grow up, Ruth hooks up with Tommy, who shares a much more intense and emotional bond with Kathy. Feeling excluded, Kathy decides to become a “carer” – a clone who takes of other donors until they “complete the mission”. While this gives the carer more freedom and a couple of more extra years, they are all eventually called upon their “duty”. Will Tommy and Kathy be able to reconnect before this happens?

***

Any Good?

Never Let Me Go is a drama with sci-fi elements. Based on the book of Kazuo Ishiguro, and written for the screen by Alex Garland, it is a very emotionally gripping, morally disturbing and ultimately a depressing film. It is currently rated at 7.2, and while the acting deserves a higher rating, the story does not.

Major Spoilers:

( I won’t give away the ending, but a crucial element in the story. Of course, if you read the book, feel free to read it. You already know.)

Many people liked this film, but one fundamental question separated the readers into two groups: the ones who understood why Kathy, Ruth and Tommy, or any other kid for the matter, never tried to run and the ones who thought it simply wasn’t possible that one kid or the other wouldn’t at least attempt to escape. I’m with the second group.

No matter how you brainwash or raise a group of people, not everyone will have the same reaction to events. And remember, these people weren’t tortured. They were told they were going to die. They were told other things were possible for other people. They were fed, and they were even allowed to watch TV. Hell, they even had access to porn magazines. Yet none of the kids tried to get violent. Or defensive. None of them tried to run. This is what makes the movie ultimately a very depressing experience. I am not saying we should have gotten a happy ending. Or even it should have been one of the three major characters that rebelled. I am simply saying that it was a disappointment for not seeing one irregular behavior.

The screenplay didn’t stray from the original material, so the book doesn’t include any escape attempts either. And while the plot affected me deeply, something in the core felt missing.

**

Should you see it? – No Spoilers

Yes, but just prepare yourself for a highly emotional and sad ride. And feel ready to feel indignant and angry on the behalf of characters.

My rating: 7/10 for the overall movie,

8/10 for the acting.

More on Keira Knightley Movies

Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen

A Dangerous Method with Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley & Michael Fassbender: Disappointing

Last Night starring Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Eva Mendes & Guillaume Canet

London Boulevard starring Colin Farrell & Keira Knightley

 

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: alex garland, andrew garfield, carey mulligan, drama, Kazuo Ishiguro, Keira Knightley, keira knightley movies, keira knigtley never let me go, never let me go, never let me go cast, never let me go dvd, never let me go keira knightley, never let me go movie, never let me go movie review

A Dangerous Method with Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley & Michael Fassbender: Disappointing

Posted on February 1, 2012 Written by ripitup

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 A Dangerous Method movie poster with Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley & Michael Fassbender

A Dangerous Method Plot

If you have seen the trailer, you’ve seen it all:

Freud (Viggo Mortensen) wants to work with Jung (Michael Fassbender), who is at the time treating a female patient (Keira Knightley). Jung is impressed by how smart and educated his patient is, and he encourages her to pursue her dreams about being a doctor. After she gets better, she enrolls in the university to become a psychiatrist. She and Jung seem to agree more on things than Jung and Freud do, as Freud is not happy with Jung’s fascination with things that aren’t %100 scientific. He is not also thrilled about Jung’s attitude towards his patients where he seems to want to be their life coach as well, and not just their doctor.

Things on Jung’s end get more more complicated as he starts sleeping with his ex-patient, and starts treating another psychiatrist. Among all the S&M and his new patient’s lack of morals and limits, Jung’s chosen path starts differ radically from Freud’s.

 A Dangerous Method Review

Well, this won’t be the last time the trailer of the movie is a lot more fun than the movie itself. I’d written a positive preview based on it, but the movie well…didn’t live up to my expectations. Let’s review this in the fashion of the one word association thing they do in the movie.

 

Movie – disappointing

Knigthley- annoying

Jung- mental

Story: dragging

Characters: unrelatable

Freud: saner

Relationships: seriously?

Gross (Cassel’s character): gross

 

Yes, I was expecting a somewhat controversial and a little kinky movie. But I was also expecting it to be fun, engaging and interesting. Instead, we get too much dialogue, a Jung that needed more therapy than his patients, a female patient whose diagnosis was only left to the audience to guess, a wife that’s anti-feminism personified. …

It is not to say I don’t have anything positive to say. I do. Keira Knightley’s performance was good, it was her character that was truly annoying. We got her issues, her problems the first three-four times they showed us, so there was no need to drag it.

Carl Jung was surely more than a man who slept around with his patients, took advice from a mental patient that also happened to be psychologist, saw his kids as hindrance to his career???

In a movie where Sigmund Freud is the only one who makes sense, the characters go around in circles with annoying manners and dragging scenes, great cinematography, costume design and acting don’t impress you much.

If you like Viggo Mortensen and Cronenberg, stick with A History of Violence.  A Dangerous Method has its moments, but not enough of them.

My favorite part of the movie (spoiler!!): When Sabina (Knightley) picks a side in the dispute.

Currently rated at 7 imdb. I am however once again impressed by Mortensen’s acting skills.

Also on Keira Knightley:

Last Night starring Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Eva Mendes & Guillaume Canet

London Boulevard starring Colin Farrell & Keira Knightley

Keira Knightley Trivia: Facts About the Oscar-Nominated Star of Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen

Also on Michael Fassbender:

Jane Eyre starring Mia Wasikowska & Michael Fassbender

Michael Fassbender Trivia

The Awesome X-Men: First Class with James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon & Rose Byrne

 

Also on Vincent Cassel:

Derailed starring Jennifer Aniston, Clive Owen & Vincent Cassel

Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan: The Movie Natalie Portman  Couldn’t Save

 

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: a dangerous method, a dangerous method movie, a dangerous method movie review, carl jung, david cronenberg, drama, Keira Knightley, michael fassbender, sigmund freud, Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel

A Dangerous Method Preview: Starring Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley & Michael Fassbender

Posted on July 22, 2011 Written by ripitup

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A Dangerous Method starring Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley & Michael Fassbender
A Dangerous Method starring Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley & Michael Fassbender. Image via cinema.com

 

You’ve got to love David Cronenberg. Granted, not all of his movies might be up your alley- but there’re  bound to be some films Cronenberg’s you just couldn’t resist. I didn’t watch his earlier work like The Fly. And I didn’t really like much about Existenz. But Crash (starring James Spader) and Spider (starring Ralph Fiennes) are on my to-watch list, and I absolutely loved A History of Violence (starring Viggo Mortensen). And while Eastern Promises (also starring Mortensen) failed to be just as compelling and hard-hitting, it was not a mediocre experience. Now Cronenberg is back, with a really fun cast and a very tempting plot:

A Dangerous Method depicts the relationship between Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) and Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and how their great minds don’t always work alike-especially when one of them starts sleeping with a patient. It just looks too delicious to pass up- and we even have Vincent Cassel as a bonus.

Based on the book by John Kerr (A Most Dangerous Method) and the play by Christopher Hampton (The Talking Cure). Adapted by Christopher Hampton. Coming to the theaters in September.

 

 

The Trailer: 

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNFisoGclFI[/pro-player]

 

Also on Keira Knightley:

Last Night starring Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Eva Mendes & Guillaume Canet

London Boulevard starring Colin Farrell & Keira Knightley

Keira Knightley Trivia: Facts About the Oscar-Nominated Star of Pride and Prejudice

 

Also on Michael Fassbender:

Jane Eyre starring Mia Wasikowska & Michael Fassbender

The Awesome X-Men: First Class with James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon & Rose Byrne

 

Also on Vincent Cassel:

Derailed starring Jennifer Aniston, Clive Owen & Vincent Cassel

Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan: The Movie Natalie Portman  Couldn’t Save

 

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: a dangerous method, a dangerous method movie, a dangerous method trailer, carl jung, david cronenberg, drama thriller, Keira Knightley, michael fassbender, sigmund freud, Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel

Last Night starring Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Eva Mendes & Guillaume Canet

Posted on June 21, 2011 Written by ripitup

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Note for the readers who haven’t seen it:
Last Night starring Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Eva Mendes & Guillaume Canet
Last Night starring Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Eva Mendes & Guillaume Canet. Image via movieophotogallery.com

I won’t give any spoilers, and the premise of the movie is so simple that feel free to read and comment on the post even if you haven’t seen the film. It is all about fidelity, love, romance, sexual attraction and cheating.

Last Night Premise:

Joanna (Keira Knightley) and Michael (Sam Worthington) are a young, British, married couple living in New York. Joanna is a freelance writer, while Michael has an office job. Their only problem seems to be Laura (Eva Mendes), Michael’s attractive colleague. Joanna is sure that Laura wants Michael, and is not very happy at the idea of the two of going on a business trip together. Michael assures Joanna that nothing is going on and goes off to his trip.

Joanna’s worries leave her when she runs into Alex (Guillaume Canet), her ex French boyfriend who she was never quite over. They agree to meet at night, for a couple of drinks.

In the meantime, Laura and Michael also decide to go for a couple of drinks after the meeting.

From this point on, we get to know more about Alex and Joanna’s past, their connection and how Alex is still very smitten with her. Will the fact that Alex has a girlfriend in France, or that that Joanna is married, be enough to stop them?

Aand will Michael finally cave in to the sexy Laura’s advances? Michael  tries to decide between his conscience and his sexual attraction. Which will take over?

 

*

Verdict

Last Night has a very simple, yet humane premise. It refrains from making the characters from being hard to relate to, or unlikable (although I did manage to hate Laura). We have a young couple who is supposedly still in love have one night apart. Michael will either fight off or give in to the appeal of a one night stand. Joanna will give either give in to her feelings to Alex, or resist him for Michael. Or maybe she will swim in highly grey waters….

There are 4 options, really: Both or neither will cheat, either Michael or Joanna cheat.

The acting makes it watchable. I mentioned the characters relatable. You don’t have to live in a nice New York flat to be able to be intrigued dilemmas: love vs. sex, loyalty vs. impulse, the idea that a person might still be in love with person while sexually wanting other, and the idea that a person can be simultaneously in love with two men.

Well, the romantic in me rejected both theories. The skeptical in me believed that both parties were equally likely to cheat. I won’t tell you the outcome. But let’s discuss theories, opinions, and experiences  both about real life, and these movies’ characters anyway.

Who do you think will cheat? What would you do if you were one of these 4 characters? And if you have seen the movie, spoil away. I allow spoilers in the comments: )

Written and directed by Massy Tadjedin.  Made in 2010

Currently rated at 6.6 on IMDB. I give it a 6.

 

Also on Keira Knightley

Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley & Matthew Macfadyen

London Boulevard starring Colin Farrell & Keira Knightley

Keira Knightley Trivia

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: drama, Eva Mendes, Guillaume Canet, Keira Knightley, Last Night, last night 2010, last night cast, last night movie, last night movie 2010, Massy Tadjedin, movies, romance, Sam Worthington

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