Cinecast Mailbag (8/18)

What's so funny 'bout Love, Heaven and Lost in Translation?

Hi Adam and Sam,

After university, I thought that I had developed a more sophisticated appreciation for cinema. After all, I started to enjoy foreign films and indie stuff as well. However, when critics raved about "Far From Heaven," "Punch-Drunk Love," and "Lost in Translation" both for their acting and direction, I went to see them. While I could see what everyone admired about the films, they just didn't do much for me. It finally dawned on me that while bad acting and bad direction may really bother me, I didn't feel that strongly about really good acting or really good directing. I realized that I fell back on the kinds of things I liked as a kid: imaginative worlds and creative stories brought to life on screen.

Since you both obviously admire and enjoy good acting and good directing, are there films that you think are really good in spite of mediocre acting or directing, which have gained your admiration for other qualities?

Keep up the great work, guys. You know I'm listening.

Thanks,
Alvin Ng, Toronto

Great question, Alvin. I appreciate your measured response to films like "Punch-Drunk Love" and "Lost In Translation." Instead of declaring movie critics pretentious, over-educated snobs, you make the always valuable point that watching movies is an entirely subjective experience. It's not uncommon for someone like yourself to leave college with a new appreciation for film. Four long years of textual or molecular analysis, lunchroom debate, and -- in many cases -- an introduction to new cultures and philosophies, can give you a greater appreciation for non-traditional storytelling techniques. And sometimes this new appreciation for the experimental can make you less patient with the conventional -- which is the common condition of the modern movie critic. Repeated exposure to the "new" can make you lose taste for the "old." And gross exposure to conventionality can make the rare taste of originality all the sweeter. Which can result in ecstatic reviews for imperfect films like "Lost in Translation" and "Far From Heaven." (Subjectively speaking, I happen to think that "Punch-Drunk Love" is a nearly perfect film.)

But. I'm not sure I've answered your question. Are there films I like despite "mediocre acting and directing"? I took a quick look at my Netflix ratings and the movies that seemed to match your query fell into a couple of categories: 1) Nostalgia movies, the movies I loved as a kid (see Cinecast #13); 2) movies where character or setting made up for uninspired (or amateur) acting or directing ("Raising Victor Vargas" "The Fast Runner"); and 3) Comedies. I don't want to come off as dismissive of comedic acting -- or directing -- but I think it's fair to say that movies like "Anchorman" or "Wet Hot American Summer" that make me laugh, that provide genuine enjoyment, are not the best acted or directed. And I think your question does well to skirt the "guilty pleasure" question, too. I think it's fair to say that if you enjoy watching a movie, there's a reason for it. To declare an appreciation for, oh, I don't know, "Four Brothers," a "guilty pleasure" is selling the movie and yourself short. Let the guilt-free movie revolution begin! Let's declare an end to "guilty pleasures" and stand up for what we like!