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Matt's Chance (2013)
Misogynistic in the extreme.
What an utterly disgusting film, dripping with misogyny.
Summary: loser Matt catches his girlfriend cheating on him, and spends the entire film discussing with other people how he just wants to murder her. Everybody else agrees with him: women who wrong men deserve to die.
Cameos by Gary Busey and Margot Kidder involve minor characters pointing out Matt's flaws and telling him how much of his relationship's failure was his fault; the viewer keeps hoping Matt will take the hint and become a redeemed character, but he never does. Instead, at the end GOD HIMSELF gives Matt the A-OK to become the murderer of all people (especially women) who cheat.
Matt never learns a thing about how he could have bettered himself in order to attract a woman's respect and loyalty. Instead, all his feelings are confirmed, that he should always get what he wants and that women should become his slaves with no autonomy and no choice in who their partners are, and if they cross him, they deserve to die. Throw in the fact that this woman had an abortion as an ante-upper for all the male characters in the film, a reason to confirm that she deserved to die, and you have one of the most disgusting spectacles of misogyny I've ever witnessed in my life. Jessica chooses to abort the child that Matt, an enormous loser with violent tendencies, will obviously never be able to provide for, and she's the evil one for doing it? Really? Matt clearly feels that he owns Jessica, mind and body, and that she has no right to make her own decisions. Every single other male character confirms his feelings. Gross.
While I actually liked the directing, which had a gritty and disjointed feel appropriate to the film's genre, on the whole the writing was miserable. The main character was never once sympathetic, just entitled and selfish throughout with no redemption. Several opportunities for Matt to turn into a sympathetic character were presented but never taken -- I guess because it was "funny" for him to remain an entitled loser. Dialog was wooden and unrealistic, a fault which most of the more experienced actors were able to overcome beautifully. Pacing was slack, dragging scenes on much longer than they needed to go. But worst of all, the story felt unsatisfying, because the loser character remained a loser and got to fulfill all his wishes of murdering women who've wronged men. What a revolting story.
Movies for men, that celebrate reclaiming masculinity and male sexuality without turning women into evil-abortion-having murder-targets whose primary sin is to not give men everything they want, are out there, and are done much better than Matt's Chance, with far better stories and more understandable characters. Fight Club comes to mind.
In the end, this film's biggest issue was shoddy writing. From characters who never progress to plot holes to clunky dialog to a disgusting premise that never gives any glimmer of redemption, it was the script that sunk this one. Frankly, I'm shocked that this film won so many awards with such poor writing. I can only imagine it won on the strength of the directing and the actors' performances in spite of the rough script. Nicholas Gyeney's strength is directing, and my hope is that he'll stick to his strengths for his next film, and partner with a strong writer who knows his or her craft to take care of the script.