didn’t expect this to be anywhere near as visually stunning as it was. genuinely didnt expect it to be this intriguing either. kevin spacey, horrible human being, terrible person, obviously, but he was amazing here. and not just him, i fking loved jeff bridges in this. he was so good. like i could tell what he was thinking just by looking at his face half the time.
and i honestly think a lot of people get this movie wrong. even the description i saw kind of gets it wrong. it says the truth is stranger, but i don’t think that’s really it. the truth isn’t stranger, the truth is just sadder. jeff bridges’ character never really strikes me as someone who believes this guy is actually from another planet. he’s just a real psychiatrist, a real man with empathy, who becomes deeply invested in this person because he can tell there is something real underneath all of it. it was obvious as soon as prot starts saying certain things and the story starts opening up that this wasn’t just about “proving a crazy person wrong.” it was about finding the truth of a real human being with a real past and real pain. when it all starts coming together and he ends up at prot’s house and understands what really happened, that was the part that hit me the most. it becomes so heavy so quickly, and from then on that’s all that really matters. everything after that changes because he’s not trying to expose him anymore, he’s kind of just willing to go along with it, to meet him where he is, and that was actually beautiful. i did think it was a bit weird and maybe out of character when he starts asking about his real name and calling him robert, i wasn’t fully sold on that choice. but overall i really loved the direction the movie took.
my only real issue is kind of a plot hole, or at least something the movie doesnt explain well enough. if he’s not actually an alien, then how does he know all that stuff that even astrophysicists didn’t know? that part was confusing. i know it’s technically science fiction, but weirdly the movie doesn’t really feel like science fiction. it feels more psychological than anything. and honestly that’s exactly why i liked it so much. it was actually exactly what i wanted tonight. i wanted something with a beautiful character, a beautiful story, something thoughtful and human. i didn’t want action, i didn’t want full on sci fi, and this gave me exactly that. really, really enjoyable.
didn’t expect this to be anywhere near as visually stunning as it was. genuinely didnt expect it to be this intriguing either. kevin spacey, horrible human being, terrible person, obviously, but he was amazing here. and not just him, i fking loved jeff bridges in this. he was so good. like i could tell what he was thinking just by looking at his face half the time.
and i honestly think a lot of people get this movie wrong. even the description i saw kind of gets it wrong. it says the truth is stranger, but i don’t think that’s really it. the truth isn’t stranger, the truth is just sadder. jeff bridges’ character never really strikes me as someone who believes this guy is actually from another planet. he’s just a real psychiatrist, a real man with empathy, who becomes deeply invested in this person because he can tell there is something real underneath all of it. it was obvious as soon as prot starts saying certain things and the story starts opening up that this wasn’t just about “proving a crazy person wrong.” it was about finding the truth of a real human being with a real past and real pain. when it all starts coming together and he ends up at prot’s house and understands what really happened, that was the part that hit me the most. it becomes so heavy so quickly, and from then on that’s all that really matters. everything after that changes because he’s not trying to expose him anymore, he’s kind of just willing to go along with it, to meet him where he is, and that was actually beautiful. i did think it was a bit weird and maybe out of character when he starts asking about his real name and calling him robert, i wasn’t fully sold on that choice. but overall i really loved the direction the movie took.
my only real issue is kind of a plot hole, or at least something the movie doesnt explain well enough. if he’s not actually an alien, then how does he know all that stuff that even astrophysicists didn’t know? that part was confusing. i know it’s technically science fiction, but weirdly the movie doesn’t really feel like science fiction. it feels more psychological than anything. and honestly that’s exactly why i liked it so much. it was actually exactly what i wanted tonight. i wanted something with a beautiful character, a beautiful story, something thoughtful and human. i didn’t want action, i didn’t want full on sci fi, and this gave me exactly that. really, really enjoyable.
