WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
CAROLINE: We Need to Talk About Kevin is a movie I’ve been anticipating because I read the book a few years ago and have been very curious to see how they would treat it as a film. It’s seriously one of the most disturbing books I’ve ever read.
RYAN: Really? I know very little about this movie, other than that Tilda Swinton is getting a lot of buzz.
CAROLINE: She plays the titular Kevin’s mother, and it’s a tough role. She nails it, of course, which isn’t a surprise.
RYAN: Would I like this movie?
CAROLINE: I think so. I’m not sure it’s on a lot of people’s radars, and it’s only out in LA and NY right now for a one-week Oscar qualifying run. Basically it’s about an evil kid and his very tense relationship with his mom. It’s pretty grim.
RYAN: So is it yet another movie in the vein of The Bad Seed, The Omen, Joshua, etc?
CAROLINE: Somewhat, but not really – it’s more much psychological than horror, though there are a few truly horrifying moments. It’s definitely got an indie, low budget vibe, but it’s not poorly made.
RYAN: Isn’t John C. Reilly in it?
CAROLINE: Yeah, he plays the dad. It’s hard to talk too much about this movie because I think the less you know going in, the better. But you also need to be prepared that there’s blood and death and mayhem, so if that’s not for you, this isn’t your movie.
RYAN: How’s the kid who plays Kevin?
CAROLINE: Really, really good. There are a few Kevins – baby Kevin, toddler Kevin, elementary school Kevin and then finally teenage Kevin, who’s creepy and amazing. He looks oddly like Tilda too, which must have been tough to find; she’s so unique looking. But she’s got dyed black hair in the movie to look more like him, I presume.
RYAN: So did you like this movie or is it just too disturbing?
CAROLINE: I liked it, didn’t love. There’s a lot of red imagery – tomatoes, tomato soup, a red ball, etc. I was like, “I get it, there’s going to be bloodshed in this movie.” So that was a little over the top. But the acting is great and the story is incredibly sad and shocking. The director, Lynne Ramsay, captures it all pretty well in kind of a spare way. The movie jumps around in time periods a lot but it’s pretty easy to follow because Tilda’s hair always changes accordingly.
RYAN: LOL. Is it as good as the book?
CAROLINE: No, the book impacted me much more, but it’s a hard book to translate to film. It’s very much from the mom’s point of view and all about her psychology and her feelings about her son, which is tough to show in a movie. But I think they did a good job trying.
RYAN: All right, what’s your bottom line?
CAROLINE: This is not a movie for everyone. It’s violent and very disturbing overall. If you’re OK with that, it’s worth seeing for the performances. Some of it was heavy-handed, but it’s definitely an interesting movie. Not a must-see on the big screen, but check it out if you’re so inclined.
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