Stoker Review
RYAN: Stoker is the new moody thriller from a Korean director Chan-wook Park that stars Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode and Mia Wasikowska. I always look forward to a Nikki Kidman movie, and this one pleased me so much more than her last one, The Paperboy.
CAROLINE: I too was interested in this movie because of her involvement. Also, I thought the trailer was really good. I didn’t expect it to be so bloody, however.
RYAN: Speaking of Nikki Kidman, she’s never looked more beautiful in any film or anywhere else than she does in this movie. She’s exquisitely gorgeous here; not a hair out of place, skin like fine china.
CAROLINE: [laughs’ She’s looking pretty good, I’ll agree, though I don’t think I had such a strong reaction as you did. This movie is so stylized and odd that I wasn’t even sure what decade it took place until several minutes into the movie. Hello, saddle shoes.
RYAN: I think that mostly has to do with Mia’s wardrobe in the film. The rest felt more contemporary. But it definitely is highly stylized, especially the editing, direction and cinematography. There were some repeated camera movements that were unique and very cool.
CAROLINE: Sometimes it worked for me and sometimes it didn’t. I liked some of the inherent creepiness in the movie, but then it got a little more violent than I expected. It’s pretty disturbing.
RYAN: That’s the best word to overall describe this film, but I also found it brilliant in the way the story unfolds. I was way off in predicting what was going on, and that’s because the story is difficult to follow. But it certainly explains itself by the end.
CAROLINE: I enjoy Matthew Goode and find him very hot, although in this he’s so creepily bug-eyed, that I wasn’t as into him as usual.
RYAN: I like him too, but he was spray tanned to the nth degree. Did you notice that everyone of the main characters in this movie had light eyes?
CAROLINE: I guess so. I definitely noticed it was weird. And it just gets weirder as it goes along.
RYAN: About halfway through, it becomes really suspenseful and actually pretty scary, which I liked. Most horror films have been so unscary lately.
CAROLINE: I wouldn’t have thought to apply the word horror to this film, but it kind of warrants it. I wasn’t sure if it was going to take a supernatural turn or just a regular old murderous turn, but either way, it gets scary and bloody fast.
RYAN: Interestingly, this was written by openly gay actor Wentworth Miller, formerly of Prison Break fame. Supporting cast includes Jacki Weaver and Dermot Mulroney and Alden Ehrenreich, and they’re all really good.
CAROLINE: Who the ‘ell is Alden Ehrenreich?
RYAN: Oh honey, you’ll know him by the end of the year. He was in Beautiful Creatures and he has several other movies coming out this year. Everyone will know his name by 2014.
CAROLINE: There were a lot of very cool shots in this movie, so I don’t want to totally diminish it. But I left it not sure if I really liked it that much.
RYAN: Oh, I know I liked it.
— BOTTOM LINE —
CAROLINE: This is a strange little movie. It has a very well-known cast, which is what made me want to see it, but I didn’t love it. There are some interesting things going on in it, but it was pretty gross, and again, quite disturbing. Definitely not for everyone.
RYAN: It’s a true art film, so I can’t recommend it for everyone either. But I really liked it, and enjoyed the brooding, moody freakishness of it, so I endorse seeing it in the theater and recommend it.
