Sunday, January 23, 2011

1504 - Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

 This is a film that I'd heard about sometime back, and what made me even more intrigued about it was that it was adapted/directed by John Krasinski.  Those who know me know that I'm drawn to films about relationships.  This film is more about how relationships affect people, and more often than not, it's about how it effects them in a pretty harsh way. 
It should be noted that this film doesn't attempt to follow a traditional narrative.  It's a lot of talking head, although Krasinki finds ways to keep the visuals fresh and interesting so that you don't just get lost in the monologues - which given the cast, I'm not sure you would anyway.  Seriously, the cast of actors that has been assembled for this film is just really something special.  Most of them aren't even close to being household names, but they're solid nonetheless and ones that you'll recognize even if you can't quite put your finger on it where they're from.
What impresses me most about this film is that Krasinki decided to make it at all.  I'm sure it would have been very easy for him to tackle a light rom-com for his first outing as a writer/director, but instead he's showing what he's made of.  It's not an easy film to digest - in fact I'm sure that the book is probably an easier (and maybe even more effective) way of telling this story (I think I'll pick the book up actually, so you can get my thoughts on that somewhere down the line - sadly it will have to go on a rather large stack of other books that I've been neglecting).
So this film is absolutely not for everyone, however if you want to watch a whole whack of really talented actors talk about some really interesting things centered around relationships and how men function (and don't) within them, then this might just be your cup of tea.  Really interested to see where Krasinski goes next as a storyteller...
Brief Interviews With Hideous MenBrief Interviews with Hideous Men [Blu-ray]Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

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