Black Hat wrote:Well can a work truly be accepted as ambitious if it fails?
"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what's a heaven for?"
I'm baffled by the notions that Nichols isn't entitled to be ambitious (shouldn't all artists be?) or isn't a filmmaker of significant import. I can't think of another director under 40 whose work I anticipate more. His four features have thematic, tonal, and visual consistency, yet each one feels "bigger" than the one before, and each feels fresh and new. I really like all of them, though
Shotgun Stories might remain my favorite, since it's the only one where I don't have some quibble about the ending.
My thoughts on the success of
Midnight Special more or less echo those of warren oates. I love the way Nichols dumps us into the story in media res, and parsimoniously doles out bits of exposition, making some details plain, eliding others, and trusting his audience to fill in the gaps. I wish (here's that quibble) that he'd shown as much restraint in the climax as he did in the first two acts. The boy's description of his nature was enough for me, and I wish Nichols hadn't chosen to visualize it for us. I'd agree with the notion that Kirsten Dunst was saddled with an underdeveloped character
*, but the cast is uniformly excellent. It's really a Michael Shannon/Joel Edgerton two-hander -- a buddy picture of a particularly unusual sort with two guys on a particularly unusual quest. I loved Driver's small role too. I think he conveys so much in inflections and looks, and I really dug him in the Jeff Goldblum role here.
Part of what appeals to me about Nichols is how much he is in command of every nuance of his films. His visual style may not be as distinctive as some filmmakers, but it's no less assured. He and his regular cinematographer, Adam Stone, use the 2.35 frame as well as anyone since John Carpenter and Dean Cundey. Every shot feels perfectly framed and makes great use of negative space. Nichols has been pretty upfront about his influences in general and for this film in particular, and while you can certainly sense the impact of Spielberg and Eastwood (and Carpenter's
Starman here), he has really come into his own. He's the cinematic poet laureate of that neglected portion of the south central U.S. -- alternately dusty and swampy, but possessing a charm all its own. He creates a clear sense of place, and fills it with great portraits of men desperately want to be good father figures against increasingly tough odds. His next film looks like an even bigger departure for him, but I understand that he believes it to be his best work, and it sure sounds like the folks at Focus have a lot of confidence in it. I'm happy to see him remaining ambitious.
*I had the same complaint about Reese Witherspoon's role in Mud, and I'd say that female characters might be something that Nichols struggles with. I felt like Jessica Chastain turned her Take Shelter role into something more than what was on the page through sheer force of Chastaininess.