Change Your Image
llf48
Reviews
Bringing Up Bobby (2011)
Sometimes uneven, but mostly interesting and enjoyable.
I saw this film in Italy at the Busto Arsizio festival in March. For a first-time director of a small-budget film (made in 11 days in 100+ degree heat), I thought it was excellent. It is a quirky, dark comedy with a world seen through the eyes of a foreigner who has images of the U.S. shaped by vintage American films and T.V.
This is not your typical Milla Jovovich/Marcia Cross product, so if you are thinking "Resident Evil" or "Desperate Housewives," you might want to pass or open up to something totally different. If you can get over the two leading women's most famous parts and see them anew, you will likely enjoy this film.
The excellent: 1) The setting. It was filmed in Oklahoma and captures so much of the U.S. that films often don't. It is full of another kind of culture: one that is slower, bleaker, and more religious than is typical in American films. Having grown up in a vowel state, I thought it captured the culture well and it was shot really interestingly.
2) Rory Cochrane and Bill Pullman. Cochrane is very funny and Pullman gives a particularly convincing and sympathetic performance.
The so-so: 1) Milla Jovovich. Jovovich's performance is up and down. When it is down it is because she is too over the top; when it is up it is because she has toned it down and bit and connects with the audience as opposed to being some kind of caricature.
2) Child actor Spencer List. List is a bit too annoying too often. Like many child actors, he simply overacts pretty much all the time.
As far as film festival fare, I would rate this in the top 10%. It is well directed, well shot, well edited, and although the acting is mixed, it is a fun, dark, poignant film.