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When I bought this movie it was August 2006. I was 16, struggling with identity issues, feelings of isolation, depression, and anxiety. I was extremely introverted, rebellious, and disconnected from the people around me. A lot of these adjectives would still describe me today, though not all.
This movie spoke to me on so many levels at that time in my life, when I was struggling with identity and sadness. It completely blew my mind back then. In the mid-2000s, there just weren't a lot of movies like this: stark, visually interesting, dark, emotional, disassociate, heartbreaking, unexpected, raw. It also dealt with the murder of a child by what is essentially another child (well, teen). No one is perfect in this movie, and everyone is struggling with their own demons—which creates characters that are beautifully flawed and more human than most characters in movies today.
The concept was relatively original to my angsty eyes: a movie starting with a dark scene and ending with a dark scene. Where’s the cathartic release? When do I get to feel better for having watched it? Where is the clean divide between good guys and bad guys? Well, this movie may not be happy, but it does something far more compelling for the watcher: it makes you think.
I come back to a Bright Eyes song, “Waste of Paint”, time and time again. If you’re familiar with it, this movie is almost a personification of all of the elements of that song. Leland spoke to me as a youth, and as an adult, I've gained a much better understanding on many of the things that were said within the film. Here’s a good line I think about a lot, for example: “The worst part is knowing that there is goodness in people. Mostly it stays deep down and buried. Maybe we don't have God because we're scared of the bad stuff. Maybe we're really scared of the good stuff. Because if there's no God, well, that means it's inside of us and we could be good all the time if we wanted. So when we do bad things, it'd be because we want to or because we have to. Or maybe we just need the bad stuff to remind us what the good stuff is in the first place.”
So many existential questions asked and discussed. I showed this movie to someone several months ago and it was the first time I’d seen it in years, and I still… Just really loved it. I think my friend was a little disturbed, but I imprinted on this movie when I was a teen, so it still holds up in my eyes. Is this movie for everybody? No, it most definitely isn't. So who do I think would like this movie? Well, angsty teenagers, people that enjoy unhappy endings and dark themes, people who like indie films, people who have pondered the existential nature of their lives, and people who are willing to think and feel when they watching something.
There’s also the matter of the excellent cast: Ryan Gosling (cutie patootie!), Kevin Spacey, that girl from Donnie Darko (or, if you’re under 18, that girl in the Hunger Games who plays someone in an elevator whose name I can’t remember), Don Cheadle, Kerry Washington.
If you've read this review all the way through, you will know that I didn't talk about the plot of the movie much, and I spent most of the review talking about how it made me feel. This movie just affects me in that kind of way, even almost 10 years later.
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Top reviews from the United States
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Top reviews from other countries
bj29
Bon DVD mais aucune bande audio française en 5.1. uniquement AC3 192 kb/s 2.0
Reviewed in France on March 13, 2023
For Tomorrow
A wonderful little film
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 10, 2013
Kitty.Wirral
Not my liking, But it,s not bad.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 16, 2015
Kitty.Wirral
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 16, 2015
This is quite slow getting in to it..He,s a brilliant guy, In this he plays a crackin part..Most of them are well none.
I Wouldn,t go higher than 3 stars as it wasn,t to my liking. But hey give it a try as i,m a lover of Ryan Gosling in his more upto date films.
I Got 5 ordered so yeah" each to are own...Not bad!!!
Kitty, Wirral.
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