mossgrymk

A tour de force for Mr. Gyllenhaall as he is in every scene in the movie and not only carries it on his shoulders but at times gives moving studies in emotional stress and guilt. At other times, though, he shouts, screams, grimaces and otherwise does what most actors, unless they're Tracy or Stewart, most enjoy doing which is gnawing on the ol scenery. This ties in with the general hysteria of tone established by Antoine Fuqua in his direction and Nic Pizzolatto in his dialogue. After awhile the film wears out its welcome and becomes kind of silly, especially after Gyllenhaal's ineptitude as a 911 dispatcher reaches absurd proportions. C plus.

PS...Of all the voice performances my fave was Riley Keough's scared yet eerily detached mom.

Want a little "Peeping Tom" to go along with your "Rear Window"? Then check out this very disturbing, creepy study in loneliness and voyeurism. Lots of things to admire about it; the taut pacing of director Mark Romanek, the sinister, noir-ish, at times harshly bright, at others darkly lovely cinematography from Jeff Cronenweth and, in my opinion, Robin Williams' finest performance as all vestiges of the manic comedian disappear, leaving in its place a pathetic, vulnerable, sociopath. Perhaps the most impressive thing about it is its ability to frighten and grip one's attention without a single drop of blood spilled. Again, kudos to director Romance along with a musing about why he didn't have a bigger career in film.

Any criticism I have centers on the last ten minutes or so where Williams' character gives a too neat and way too expositional explanation for his deviant behavior. Romanek also wrote the screenplay. He probably should have outsourced it to Steven Zaillian. A minus.

One of the more devastating takedowns of an iconic brand that you're likely to see. If you didn't already dislike Seaworld for its tacky theme park vibe then you're sure to despise it after watching this doc. It basically portrays the Orlando, Florida based corporation as an aquatic plantation owner with the whales as the slaves and the trainers as overseers. And when one of the whale/slaves named Tilikum displays agressive behavior as a result of being ill treated, confined and forced to perform for tourists and, as might have been predicted, murders one of the trainer/overseers the plantation owner/corporation blames the overseer for, of all things, having a pony tail!

So, as I said above, a searing, effective critique of Seaworld. My only criticism is that in a strange way the documentarians, in their refusal to name any of the corporate higher ups or show their faces, let this appalling company off way too lightly. B plus.