How can a film directed by the great Mike Nichols, starring Tom Hanks, Amy Adams and the greatest actor ever in Philip Seymour Hoffman, and written by the great Aaron Sorkin, be this unbearably bland?
Feels as though it dances around its heavy subject matter rather than committing to it. Don’t get me wrong, it definitely acknowledges the gravity, but it never truly interrogates the ethics of intervention. Instead, it’s weirdly framed like an underdog success story. Im unsure what went wrong here, to be honest…. Aaron Sorkin still writes with his signature wit, Tom Hanks is doing what he does best, and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s screen presence is absolutely fucking enormous and was easily the best thing about this otherwise forgettable film, tremendous performance in fact. Perhaps Nichols isn’t at his finest when it comes to tackling something like this?
Nonetheless, not an awful film and the performances definitely did a lot of the heavy lifting. But not a great film either. Meh! I’d still watch anything with PSH in it.
How can a film directed by the great Mike Nichols, starring Tom Hanks, Amy Adams and the greatest actor ever in Philip Seymour Hoffman, and written by the great Aaron Sorkin, be this unbearably bland?
Feels as though it dances around its heavy subject matter rather than committing to it. Don’t get me wrong, it definitely acknowledges the gravity, but it never truly interrogates the ethics of intervention. Instead, it’s weirdly framed like an underdog success story. Im unsure what went wrong here, to be honest…. Aaron Sorkin still writes with his signature wit, Tom Hanks is doing what he does best, and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s screen presence is absolutely fucking enormous and was easily the best thing about this otherwise forgettable film, tremendous performance in fact. Perhaps Nichols isn’t at his finest when it comes to tackling something like this?
Nonetheless, not an awful film and the performances definitely did a lot of the heavy lifting. But not a great film either. Meh! I’d still watch anything with PSH in it.
