I fell asleep halfway the movie. I've seen a few Redford movies (as a director of course), and although I'm not a hardcore fan, I certainly sympathize with his efforts for the film industry and respect his work as a director. His acting career being beyond criticism.
Much to my surprise, the movie not only was slow and missing true development and plot twists. It was also quite cheesy.
E.g., to have the main character drive around in the politically correct car of the 80s and 90s, the ubiquitous Volvo station car, was a bad choice. This Volvo has been used too many times as a lifestyle prop.
Then there's Redford's age. Much like a recent Pacino movie, we see here the limits of aged actor casting. Redford is just not convincing in this role. His age betrays him when he interacts with his teenage daughter.
More importantly though, the plot feels somehow contrived. Shia Laboeuf is ill at ease as the 'smart' reporter uncovering secrets that have been lying around in plain sight for ages. It makes him look silly.
Redford seems to have gone against better judgment to direct a movie that is meant to wake up the average US citizen, but ends up preaching for his own congregation.
Clearly, Redford did have no trouble convincing the cream of the crop of Hollywood's freethinking actors, namely Susan Sarandon and Laboeuf. They should have spent a bit more time on reading the script. The movie is trite and relies too much on the would-be shocking subject-matter. Once we come to accept the fact that the movie is about people with ideals having crossed that thin line between political action and murder, we're left with a predictable story, and very little sympathy for the characters interpreted by these fine actors. This must be the only movie where I actually yawned when Susan Sarandon came on screen. Her lines were so poor, trite and unconvincing.
I'm going to force myself to watch the rest of the movie, out of respect for the Hollywood monument Redford. I have little hope it will be worth my time.
Much to my surprise, the movie not only was slow and missing true development and plot twists. It was also quite cheesy.
E.g., to have the main character drive around in the politically correct car of the 80s and 90s, the ubiquitous Volvo station car, was a bad choice. This Volvo has been used too many times as a lifestyle prop.
Then there's Redford's age. Much like a recent Pacino movie, we see here the limits of aged actor casting. Redford is just not convincing in this role. His age betrays him when he interacts with his teenage daughter.
More importantly though, the plot feels somehow contrived. Shia Laboeuf is ill at ease as the 'smart' reporter uncovering secrets that have been lying around in plain sight for ages. It makes him look silly.
Redford seems to have gone against better judgment to direct a movie that is meant to wake up the average US citizen, but ends up preaching for his own congregation.
Clearly, Redford did have no trouble convincing the cream of the crop of Hollywood's freethinking actors, namely Susan Sarandon and Laboeuf. They should have spent a bit more time on reading the script. The movie is trite and relies too much on the would-be shocking subject-matter. Once we come to accept the fact that the movie is about people with ideals having crossed that thin line between political action and murder, we're left with a predictable story, and very little sympathy for the characters interpreted by these fine actors. This must be the only movie where I actually yawned when Susan Sarandon came on screen. Her lines were so poor, trite and unconvincing.
I'm going to force myself to watch the rest of the movie, out of respect for the Hollywood monument Redford. I have little hope it will be worth my time.