Bunky Blum is picked on in school. His only peace comes during lunch hour, when he and his mentally ill Mother eat McDonalds and visit a talking train named Train. The 83 year-old train is now a caged monument in the center of a children's park. However, Bunky believes that the train will break out of its confines and save him from the bullies of the schoolyard. When Bunky realizes that the train is not magical, all hope is lost and Bunky has a moral melt down. In a fit of rage, Bunky punches a girl in a wheelchair. The unsympathetic move lands Bunky on the losing end of a full out brawl. Bunky's Mother witnesses the schoolyard violence and she erupts into her own fit of rage, which ultimately sends her back to the psych ward. In the end, Bunky is left without hope, without family and without security. He returns to the old train to make a final plea for vengeance. But Bunky's giant steal savior has not come for vengeance. Rather, it offers Bunky what he needs, a shush of peace.
Ultra-violent storytelling has never been my thing, but the issues with Scarface go beyond that. The film perpetuates harmful stereotypes about Latinx immigrants and uses gore and misogyny for shock value that never serves any purpose. The whole venture is frustratingly empty, and left me desiring something more.
My review’s title is a nod to Shakespeare and is entirely deliberate. The original movie portrayed the high-end fashion world as a brutal arena of plotting, backstabbing, and betrayal, and most Shakespeare’s plays depend on these plot devices. The Devil Wears Prada 2 uses the same formula, and is, plot-wise, almost identical. Once again, we plunge into the cutthroat world of Runway, where to get and stay at the top, you must let go of your principles and moral sense. The only thing different is that due to the digital era, Runway is not a print magazine anymore, but one that is running online.
It's not love. It's Obsession. The hook of this movie is the tension between wanting to be loved and the fear of being all-encompassed by that love. It plays on men’s typical (though certainly not universal) inner-conflict
On top of the phenomenal acting, and great dialogue between the two characters, the cinematography was ravishing! The sound was outstanding! The production design was simple, yet intrinsic. The minimalistic approach in the Malibu beach house represented how little they really have going on in their relationship. The storyline may have been much simpler than "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf," but all the more insightful, and much more animalistic at its core.
American Fiction is a genuinely entertaining film with a few lessons.
