MOVIE REVIEW: Lou || "Where are we even going?" [ENG-ESP]
The film industry keeps expanding with every day that passes, and there's always one new film around the corner. However, it is only a few that make it to the top. It may take a lot for a film to get to the top, or it may just take a few clicks of some buttons to place it there.
Netflix, as I have come to know them, somehow has movies that their presence at the top is questionable. Or it may just be that I am just a weirdo or that the majority of their audience seem to be very different (of course they are).
This makes me sceptical about picking some films from their catalogues. But oh well, I sure will make a choice eventually.
I picked Lou because I felt a sense of inclination as I read that it was an action-thriller film with women as the main roles. I became interested, not that I think women cannot deliver, but because it's quite rare to find such movies surfacing to be at the top.
I did not set many expectations other than to see something worthwhile as an hour and forty minutes is no child's play. I guess we all feel that way about movies; we hope to not be disappointed.
Anyway, I felt a plethora of emotions after seeing the whole film. My thoughts were vague as I was not sure what to say about this film. But, either way, we'll get there...
Lou is a former spy for the CIA who lives with her dog in a village on an island in Washington. All by herself, she lives a life of seclusion with minimal interaction with the outside world. Hannah, a tenant of her's, lives just in the vicinity of where she resides, only checking in once a while as deemed necessary.
Hannah, being a widow to a green beret who has been declared dead owing to a fire explosion, lives with only her daughter, Vee. Together, they try to live happily. However, Vee thinks her father is on an adventure and is on his way back.
Source
The storm arrives, and Vee is kidnapped by a sociopath. As they are all on the island, he flees with her on food through the woods. Lou, being a retired valiant soldier, offers to help track and find the kidnapper and rescue Vee.
It turns out, however, that the sociopath is the presumed dead husband of Hannah. And as the story unfolds, more and more secrets linking Lou, Hannah, and the sociopath are revealed.
The film opens with an establishment of Lou's type of person. It does this by showing her "bad ass" side as she kills a deer, walks into a bank to withdraw all her funds, and then sends a letter to someone unknown about selling her house, all while not giving a tiny smile.
This clearly was done to enable the film's audience to easily accept any kind of "bad guy" move that would make up for a somewhat classic action movie. Other elements of the film begin to kick in not-soon-enough and then we have more of the thriller side of the story presenting itself.
The film depicts the crazy things sociopaths can do just to achieve whatever it is they desire. There are extreme lengths to which they will go, and this never sits well with the victims. It is even crazier when the social path is some green beret.
Alongside that, it shows to what effect bad parenting can cause unprecedented damage in the future. We then see attempts to right wrongs and a theme centered upon "life gives second chances."
All I hoped to find in this film was something that could keep my eyes open and keep me on edge, as that is what "thriller" films are believed to have good effects for. I, however, found the movie quite different from my expectations.
The fundamental idea I have about thriller films is that I should feel the thrills (duhh...), chills, and excitement that are intended. If this fails in a film, then what we have is "not" a thriller film but some film mistaken for it.
What I mean to say is, "Please, for the love of the industry, do not be predictable." I do not want to be able to know that a character is going to take a left turn with a vehicle heading towards a tree. (You get??). The element of surprise should not be lacking.
There was supposed to be a plot twist in the film, as most thriller films do have, but when the time for the unvealing of the "twist" came, I found myself concurrently stating the twist as it happened. It was more like a "Why am I not surprised?" moment for me.
Allison Janney
Scripting, for me, is where they must have missed it. This film has a runtime of 1 hour 49 minutes and for most of it, I felt like "Okay... where are we going with this? It's taking quite a while. " And this is because there were so many instances where I felt nothing was going on, for too long!
For a crazy build up, you would think... but when an intense scene finally arrives, it all dies down too quickly and we are back to square one.
I love to see excellent cinematography. I rarely miss the brilliance in the execution of lighting, camera angles and movements, and the use of appropriate visual effects.
So, personally, when there's nothing quite fascinating with the whole cinematography, the whole film may just "taste" less than it should. Of course, low cinematography may be required in some films. But there should be other elements that'll make up for it; a good storyline, for example.
The whole motion picture in this film was basically mundane for me. It was all too little delivered if you look at it from the "action" point of view. However, it sufficed enough to tell the story well.
Everyone seeing the film most definitely has eyes. And those eyes will be able to pick up most of the emotions they encounter in a movie. If it then does not correlate with the "situation" we should have at hand, then we have a problem with the acting somewhere.
The job of every actor is to sell the character to their audience. With this done effectively, the story to be told may as well hit differently than intended as there is a character flaw. If we do find an excellent portrayal of a character, the depiction of the story being told will be as it should be.
I was eager to finish this film after seeing Jurnee Smollett. This is because I loved her performance in the last film I saw her in, Spiderhead.
Jurnee Smollett
Her performance in this film, like her performance in Spiderhead, is outstanding. She excellently played a distressed mother who's willing to go to any lengths to save her daughter who has been kidnapped.
I'd like to commend the work of Allison Janney, who delivered so well in the role of a "bad-ass" woman that's tougher than most men.
This film has two distinct audiences: those who will enjoy it and those who will not. This would be due to the diverse tastes in film that we have everywhere.
The movie ends in a way that suggests the possibility of a sequel. This was not much of a surprise as the majority of the film had much of that "predictable" feel to it.
If there ever is a sequel to this film, I might as well just skip it. If it ever comes out, I'm sure there will be some other amazing thrillers to check out. But like I have said, there are many people with different tastes in films. You might as well want to check it out for yourself.
Meanwhile, I'd be giving the film a rating of...
𝟝/𝟙𝟘.
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
La industria del cine se expande cada día que pasa, y siempre hay una nueva película a la vuelta de la esquina. Sin embargo, son sólo unas pocas las que llegan a la cima. Puede costar mucho que una película llegue a la cima, o puede bastar con pulsar unos cuantos botones para colocarla allí.
Netflix, tal y como los he conocido, tiene de alguna manera películas que su presencia en el top es cuestionable. O puede ser simplemente que yo sea un bicho raro o que la mayoría de su público parezca ser muy diferente (por supuesto que sí).
Esto me hace ser escéptico a la hora de elegir algunas películas de sus catálogos. Pero bueno, seguro que al final haré una elección.
Elegí Lou porque sentí una inclinación al leer que era una película de acción y suspense con mujeres como protagonistas. Me interesó, no porque piense que las mujeres no puedan cumplir, sino porque es bastante raro encontrar películas de este tipo que estén a la altura.
No me planteé muchas expectativas más que las de ver algo que mereciera la pena, ya que una hora y cuarenta minutos no es un juego de niños. Supongo que todos nos sentimos así con las películas; esperamos no ser decepcionados.
De todos modos, sentí una plétora de emociones después de ver toda la película. Mis pensamientos eran vagos, ya que no estaba seguro de qué decir sobre esta película. Pero, en fin, ya llegaremos a eso...
Lou is a former spy for the CIA who lives with her dog in a village on an island in Washington. All by herself, she lives a life of seclusion with minimal interaction with the outside world. Hannah, a tenant of her's, lives just in the vicinity of where she resides, only checking in once a while as deemed necessary.
Hannah, being a widow to a green beret who has been declared dead owing to a fire explosion, lives with only her daughter, Vee. Together, they try to live happily. However, Vee thinks her father is on an adventure and is on his way back.
Fuente
Llega la tormenta y Vee es secuestrada por un sociópata. Como todos están en la isla, él huye con ella a base de comida por el bosque. Lou, siendo un valiente soldado retirado, se ofrece a ayudar a rastrear y encontrar al secuestrador y a rescatar a Vee.
Sin embargo, resulta que el sociópata es el presunto marido muerto de Hannah. Y a medida que se desarrolla la historia, se revelan más y más secretos que vinculan a Lou, Hannah y el sociópata.
La película comienza estableciendo el tipo de persona de Lou. Lo hace mostrando su lado "malvado" mientras mata a un ciervo, entra en un banco para retirar todos sus fondos y luego envía una carta a alguien desconocido sobre la venta de su casa, todo ello sin dar una mínima sonrisa.
Esto se hizo claramente para que el público de la película aceptara fácilmente cualquier tipo de movimiento de "chico malo" que conformara una película de acción un tanto clásica. Otros elementos de la película comienzan a entrar en acción no muy pronto y entonces tenemos más del lado de thriller de la historia que se presenta.
La película describe las locuras que pueden hacer los sociópatas para conseguir lo que desean. Hay extremos a los que llegan, y esto nunca sienta bien a las víctimas. Es aún más loco cuando el camino social es algún boina verde.
Además, muestra hasta qué punto la mala crianza de los hijos puede causar un daño sin precedentes en el futuro. Luego vemos los intentos de corregir los errores y un tema centrado en "la vida da segundas oportunidades".
Todo lo que esperaba encontrar en esta película era algo que me mantuviera con los ojos abiertos y me mantuviera en vilo, ya que para eso se cree que las películas de "thriller" tienen buenos efectos. Sin embargo, la película me pareció bastante diferente a mis expectativas.
La idea fundamental que tengo sobre las películas de suspense es que debo sentir la emoción (duhh...), el escalofrío y la excitación que se pretende. Si esto falla en una película, entonces lo que tenemos es "no" una película de suspense sino una película confundida con ella.
Lo que quiero decir es: "Por favor, por el amor de la industria, no sean previsibles". No quiero poder saber que un personaje va a girar a la izquierda con un vehículo que se dirige a un árbol. (¿Entiendes?). El elemento sorpresa no debe faltar.
Se suponía que había un giro argumental en la película, como tienen la mayoría de las películas de suspense, pero cuando llegó el momento de desvelar el "giro", me encontré afirmando simultáneamente el giro mientras sucedía. Fue más bien un momento de "¿Por qué no me sorprende?" para mí.
Allison Janney
El guión, para mí, es donde deben haber fallado. Esta película tiene una duración de 1 hora y 49 minutos y durante la mayor parte de ella, me sentí como "Vale... ¿a dónde vamos con esto? Se está alargando bastante. "Y esto es porque hubo muchos momentos en los que sentí que no pasaba nada, ¡durante demasiado tiempo!
Para una acumulación loca, se podría pensar... pero cuando finalmente llega una escena intensa, todo se apaga demasiado rápido y volvemos al punto de partida.
Me encanta ver una cinematografía excelente. Rara vez echo de menos la brillantez en la ejecución de la iluminación, los ángulos y movimientos de la cámara y el uso de efectos visuales adecuados.
Así que, personalmente, cuando no hay nada fascinante en el conjunto de la cinematografía, la película entera puede "gustar" menos de lo que debería. Por supuesto, en algunas películas puede ser necesaria una cinematografía baja. Pero debe haber otros elementos que lo compensen; un buen argumento, por ejemplo.
Para mí, todo el argumento de esta película fue básicamente mundano. Todo fue demasiado poco entregado si lo miras desde el punto de vista de la "acción". Sin embargo, fue suficiente para contar bien la historia.
Todos los que ven la película tienen, sin duda, ojos. Y esos ojos son capaces de captar la mayoría de las emociones que encuentran en una película. Si entonces no se correlaciona con la "situación" que debemos tener a mano, entonces tenemos un problema con la actuación en alguna parte.
El trabajo de todo actor es vender el personaje a su público. Si esto se hace de forma eficaz, la historia que se va a contar puede golpear de forma diferente a la prevista, ya que hay un fallo en el personaje. Si encontramos una excelente representación de un personaje, la representación de la historia que se cuenta será como debe ser.
Estaba deseando terminar esta película después de ver a Jurnee Smollett. Esto se debe a que me encantó su actuación en la última película en la que la vi, Spiderhead.
Jurnee Smollett
Su actuación en esta película, al igual que su actuación en Spiderhead, es sobresaliente. Interpretó de forma excelente a una madre angustiada que está dispuesta a todo para salvar a su hija, que ha sido secuestrada.
Me gustaría elogiar el trabajo de Allison Janney, que se desenvolvió muy bien en el papel de una mujer "mala" que es más dura que la mayoría de los hombres.
Esta película tiene dos públicos distintos: los que la disfrutarán y los que no. Esto se debería a los diversos gustos cinematográficos que tenemos en todas partes.
La película termina de una manera que sugiere la posibilidad de una secuela. Esto no fue una gran sorpresa ya que la mayor parte de la película tenía mucho de "predecible".
Si alguna vez hay una secuela de esta película, puede que me la salte. Si alguna vez sale, estoy seguro de que habrá otras películas de suspense increíbles para ver. Pero como he dicho, hay mucha gente con diferentes gustos en cuanto a películas. Es mejor que lo compruebes por ti mismo.
Mientras tanto, yo le daría a la película una calificación de...
𝟝/𝟙𝟘.
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
:)
ℍ𝕖𝕪, 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕟𝕛𝕠𝕪𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕥, 𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕝𝕪 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥, 𝕣𝕖𝕓𝕝𝕠𝕘, 𝕠𝕣 𝕦𝕡𝕧𝕠𝕥𝕖. 𝕀𝕥'𝕝𝕝 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕓𝕖 𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕.
I've read a review on this recently and the person has the same thoughts as you, that the movie was very predictable. She also said that it didn't really end well to her. The only reason that will make me see this movie is if I have someone around me seeing it, lolz, but I'm serious sha.
Thank you so much for this beautiful review, now after reading two different reviews I think I have a glimpse of what might have happened in the movie 🙂.
Majority of the reviews I read praised the movie. It got me questioning if I watched the back of my phone and saw things differently. But you know what they say, "One man's food is another man's poison." I just kept with my opinion.
Thank you for reading, Hope. I am glad my review was helpful. ;)
Hahaha, I totally understand that kind of thing, it happens to me a lot too but mine I'm sure I really watched the movie backwards, lolz.
You are always welcome Joe, it's a pleasure 😊.
I didn't have time to watch it, I started watching another Netflix movie called Togo, from Argentina and I left this one for another day. I want to see it because of the actresses, I just hope it's entertaining enough, although you warn us in your post that it's a bit predictable. When I see it I'll give you my opinion.
Apparently, there are many films that go with the name "Togo." And the first I saw was about a dog. I guessed it wasn't the one, and then I found the one on Nexflix about some boy and drug traffickers.
I have both films on my list now, but I'll start with the former as it piqued my interest more.
I actually have observed from your blog that you must have had quite a lot on your plate lately. Hopefully, you get time to see the film and give your opinions.
@olujay, I think I need a tutor to reviewing movies just like you are. 😂😂 This is so good and I love how you delivered this movie — Lou
I watched this movie last week too. Although, I enjoyed it but where the twist came in was me knowing the sociopath is the son of Lou and how bad parenting caused everything for him.
I don't think he would have turned that way if Lou had been there for him when he was young and what has Hannah and Vee had to do with that? What was his plan?
If the movie was to go on, I don't think Vee would forever want to see her father knowing who he really was.
That is it! They can go any length to achieve their aim and that can be seen in the movie. So cruel!
😂
The thing about writing movie reviews for me is that I see them as I way to express my thoughts. And that is literally what I do. I love to watch films, and I do so a lot. And most definitely, there sure would be things I love, or hate, or was indifferent about when I am seeing a film. All I just need to do is to put them to words and voila... it's a movie review.
However, I try to not put my words in ways that may compel my audience to lean toward my opinions. That would be making statements like, "it was a really bad scene." Or "The opening was incredible." I'd rather use other words to decribe my opinion.
There are so many other things I had to say about the film. Most of them are actually positive. But I could not afford to make my post "too long."
I am always afraid of these movies that doesn't make everyone happy ! lol
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Interesting movie review...
The only thing that stopped me from watching it was that you said everyone was giving great reviews about it and then it get to your turn .. it didn't fascinate you that much... I smiled.
Mother's can do anything just to save her child's life it's a bond so she is definitely going to play it well.... she's always a badass character.
Sociopaths are the worst kind of people that when you associate yourself with it ends badly... they're just one weird and annoying folks.
I would check out the movie though and it would be listed.
"One man's food is another man's poison." The "great reviews" reviews I saw had not much depth to justify their reasons, and many of their opinions did not tally with mine.
I take the film to be more of an escapist type, only fitting for the kind you'd pick when you just want to pass time. Those kind of movies, to me, do not necessarily have to be enjoyable.
You should check the movie out yourseld. You could even give us your opinion about it. I'd love to read it.