Coming Home Review
RYAN: This is a new Chinese language film with subtitles. The titles are in white but difficult to read – often going by too fast or white text over white background. But aside from the poor font color choice, this movie is quite melodramatic.
CAROLINE: I wasn’t able to screen with you. Is it very dramatic?
RYAN: The story is quite sad. It’s about a political prisoner returning home to his wife who has amnesia and it’s really a frustrating story. It’s like her amnesia is selective, although it’s not. It just feels convenient for the story.
CAROLINE: That’s too bad. It sounds like it could be good otherwise.
RYAN: It’s a dreary film – mostly with a desaturated color palate and a slow pace. You really have to be patient with it – which is appropriate since it’s about patience. It centers around the quiet moments; a love story about being patient with your true love. I appreciate that message but LBH – that doesn’t make for the most exciting experience at the theater.
CAROLINE: Well, not everything has to be a blockbuster action movie.
RYAN: Of course not. But there are ways to let a story unfold that are dramatic and yet gripping. This movie was all around too slow, quite, down and boring to begin to captivate.
CAROLINE: Are the performances even good?
RYAN:They are outstanding. This cast is wonderful and early on there are some ballet dance moments that are a highlight. But I wished they would have continued throughout the film. Dance as a metaphor in the story could have been cool.
CAROLINE: You’d never get a complaint from me, throwing some dancing in anywhere.
RYAN: There were some holes in the story that the screenplay tries to write off but I didn’t buy the explanations. There’s a much better version of this same kind of story out there – it’s the Nicole Kidman thriller Before I Go to Sleep. It’s a very similar premise, in that it’s a wife not remembering her husband and I just kept thinking about how amazing that film is… which made this one even more boring. Skip this one.
