The textbook definition of the word pretentious is “something trying to appear more important, cultured, or high-class than it actually is.” When a movie sets out to be pretentious for the sake of nothing more than being pretentious, it’s annoying and embarrassing.
There’s no doubt Tom Cruise will someday win an Oscar, and there’s even less doubt that Hollywood is just waiting for him to give them a reason. It was time for Leo to get his coveted and well-deserved honor, so he was paired up with Iñárritu and got his Oscar for The Revenant. Those same people put the same plan in motion for Cruise, and this movie is what we got. Saaaawing and a miss!
I won’t waste your time with a detailed review of the movie because it’s way too complicated to explain, and it really doesn’t matter. I’m here only to say that the movie is awful and the worst film I’ve seen so far, 10 months into this year. Don’t get me wrong: I’m a huge fan of Tom Cruise, and I have nothing but respect and admiration for his stellar career. And based on even less exposure to his work, I think Alejandro Iñárritu is a talented storyteller. But this movie was a mess within a mess. Even John Goodman, who has always been better than the material he is generally given, was wasted here. If anything good comes from this, it’s the use of Riz Ahmed in another smaller and thankless role that allows him to stand out despite the material.
All that said, there’s still a good chance this box office flop may go down in the history books as a “critical success,” and we may still see several Oscar nominations come from it. None will be deserved, and none will be won, but it will likely get some acclaim on the back end.
- Paul Rosen