This was a thoroughly entertaining film with a lot of great things to say, but there are definitely many aspects of this film that could've used a bit more polish. The script is fantastically witty and provides plenty of opportunities not only to entertain the viewer but to give them some mental food to chew on and most of the actors gave great performances.
However, there were some rather jarring aspects of the film that distracted from the viewing experience. Many scenes suffer from continuity and editing issues: like the position or disposition of the actors changes from one cut to the next or what actually happened in the scene is hard to follow because of huge, sudden jumps from one event to the next.
And while most of the actors were great, Zoe Kravitz seemed to be really out of her depth here. I didn't realize it was her until the end credits, but I kept wondering why the chemistry between her character and Malcolm was so incredible confusing: "is she TRYING to put him in the friend-zone?" I kept asking myself. Overall, that entire relationship could've been left completely out of the movie and the film might've been better off for it.
This last film-making gripe probably wouldn't bother too many people, but I also thought the sound was terrible, at least in regard to dialogue. There were many scenes that were out in the open but it was painfully obvious that the dialogue and or "live" music was recorded in a studio.
This is the potential spoiler part...
Oh, and while I thought much of what the film had to say about race or growing-up-in-the-ghetto issues was rather profound and seemed on-point, there's one line from the film on that subject that is still just frustratingly grating on me. On his revised Harvard application, Malcolm ends it with "'So why do I want to go to Harvard??'--if I was white would you even have to ask me that?" Just... WTF dude. YES OF COURSE THEY ASK WHITE PEOPLE WHY THEY WANT TO GO TO HARVARD!!! It's hard for anyone and everyone (except maybe the offspring of rich, heavily-donating Harvard alumni) to get in to Harvard. Talk about a self-created sense of persecution.
Despite all those flaws though, it was still an incredibly entertaining and enjoyable film.
However, there were some rather jarring aspects of the film that distracted from the viewing experience. Many scenes suffer from continuity and editing issues: like the position or disposition of the actors changes from one cut to the next or what actually happened in the scene is hard to follow because of huge, sudden jumps from one event to the next.
And while most of the actors were great, Zoe Kravitz seemed to be really out of her depth here. I didn't realize it was her until the end credits, but I kept wondering why the chemistry between her character and Malcolm was so incredible confusing: "is she TRYING to put him in the friend-zone?" I kept asking myself. Overall, that entire relationship could've been left completely out of the movie and the film might've been better off for it.
This last film-making gripe probably wouldn't bother too many people, but I also thought the sound was terrible, at least in regard to dialogue. There were many scenes that were out in the open but it was painfully obvious that the dialogue and or "live" music was recorded in a studio.
This is the potential spoiler part...
Oh, and while I thought much of what the film had to say about race or growing-up-in-the-ghetto issues was rather profound and seemed on-point, there's one line from the film on that subject that is still just frustratingly grating on me. On his revised Harvard application, Malcolm ends it with "'So why do I want to go to Harvard??'--if I was white would you even have to ask me that?" Just... WTF dude. YES OF COURSE THEY ASK WHITE PEOPLE WHY THEY WANT TO GO TO HARVARD!!! It's hard for anyone and everyone (except maybe the offspring of rich, heavily-donating Harvard alumni) to get in to Harvard. Talk about a self-created sense of persecution.
Despite all those flaws though, it was still an incredibly entertaining and enjoyable film.