The Woman in the Window (Joe Wright, 2021)

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The Woman in the Window (Joe Wright, 2020)

#51 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri May 14, 2021 2:03 pm

Why do people still feel compelled to make movies like this? Everything here has been done and seen before, and I found myself constantly distracted during "extravagant" setpieces, wondering what was going through the actors' and director's minds as they were putting in the effort to construct recycled garbage passing it off as Art. Every actor is underutilized, but the material itself is so tired and depleted of value that any misjudgments on the part of the filmmakers are trivial by comparison. I don't know how anyone could have made this interesting, but it probably would have helped to do, or not do, a few things:
Some spoilers, but, I mean, who cares?Show
-Invest us in Adams as a character.. just a little bit. This is usually the principal problem with these psychological thrillers, where we don't know or care about our protagonist, and it's repeated here. Is it that hard to muse on their mental state while also maintaining some intimacy with the character? Being aloof isn't the only way to sell a gimmick of questioning one's delusional nature.

-The contrived way the evidence is destroyed with the computer breaking/Wyatt Russell ignoring an opportunity to clarify the story, just continues the narrative when a simple solution exists. It's annoying.

-Having Adams as a child psychologist who diagnoses the wrong traits in the neighbor's son has been done before, but it's also not a process that's explored here, and it should be, because attending to her own skewed impressions could assist in granting shades to her characterization.

-The Big Speech explanation from the son doesn't make a lick of sense. Too many stars needed to align for this confidence to work- how could he know that she was a 'perfect next victim' from hearing her story from the real estate broker? How could he know how to 'play' her? Everything he did to get a sympathetic reaction was based on her work as a stable child therapist rather than an unstable delusional woman who killed her own family by accident... so that 'reveal' works counter to the information we were presented with vs. withheld and made much more sense before any kind of Twist introduced. Isn't that the opposite of how this is supposed to work?

-And what a strange application of the stars aligning with his mother to add into the mix. An absolutely pointless inclusion, when he was an aspiring serial killer plotting outside of her random appearance, yet the happenstance of her showing up was the main focal point of the narrative and helped facilitate him covering up his murders. That he doesn't even acknowledge this as convenient in that Scooby Doo confession only makes the denouement less coherent.

-What a waste of Gary Oldman! His casting is a good red herring I guess, but I can't help but wonder if his character had more to do in the original script to help make the mystery more compelling.

-The CGI at the end on the roof is godawful. Oh, how kEwL, a garden hoe through the cheek! Too bad it looks like shit.

-Brian Tyree Henry is the worst cop ever, not for botching the case by disbelieving Adams (which is entirely sensible, no clue why he's apologizing at the end) but for covering up a suicide visual essay for a suicidal woman with a history of suicide attempts. In his defense, nobody, especially not Tracy Letts, is a good therapist in this film, so within the internal logic of the film's milieu it's acceptable that everyone is playing Doctor and Cop to absurdist lengths (though when someone with my job can afford a spacious apt in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, you already know it's a fantasy world).

-I should have never made a pledge to be an Amy Adams completist.

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Monterey Jack
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Re: The Woman in the Window (Joe Wright, 2020)

#52 Post by Monterey Jack » Fri May 14, 2021 4:18 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngKHvnn2fFE

This...is...HILARIOUS. I was expecting something workmanlike and bland like the throwaway "airport novel" it was adapted from (which I haven't read, but come on...do I really need to?), but this is bonkers, an overheated, sinew-popping riff on worn-out Hitchcock cliches that's so histrionic in the filmmaking and acting choices that I was emiting barks of disbelieving laughter throughout. And it takes real balls for a movie this bad to constantly show classic Hitchcock movies playing on Amy Adams' TV, as this isn't fit to lick Hitch's shoes. It's definitely worth watching just to soak in the ripe overacting and riper camera convolutions. Those who have bagged on Brian De Palma in the past for aping Hitchcock's filming techniques and plot ideas will feel like they owe him an enormous apology after witnessing this roast turkey, which has none of De Palma's fiendish wit or technical virtuosity, but all of the most amusingly purple aspects of his florrid style. The underrated A Small Favor from a few years back mined similar Hitchcockian plot ideas, from a similarly disposable novel, but credit to Paul Feig for knowing he was making lowbrow trash, and treating the matieral with the proper arch, semi-spoof attitude. This film is just like watching a little kid play dress-up in mommy's clothes. This would have tanked HARD had it been released to theaters (even pre-Pandemic), and now it's nothing more than the worst movie of Joe Wright's career (and yes, I include Pan in that).
Last edited by Monterey Jack on Fri May 14, 2021 4:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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domino harvey
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Re: The Woman in the Window (Joe Wright, 2020)

#53 Post by domino harvey » Fri May 14, 2021 4:21 pm

Monterey Jack wrote:
Fri May 14, 2021 4:18 pm
This would have tanked HARD had it been released to theaters (even pre-Pandemic), and now it's nothing more than the worst movie of Joe Wright's career (and yes, I include Pan in that).
First of all, Pan was great. Second, you're probably right.

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: The Woman in the Window (Joe Wright, 2020)

#54 Post by knives » Fri May 14, 2021 4:26 pm

therewillbeblus wrote:
Fri May 14, 2021 2:03 pm
Why do people still feel compelled to make movies like this? Everything here has been done and seen before, and I found myself constantly distracted during "extravagant" setpieces, wondering what was going through the actors' and director's minds as they were putting in the effort to construct recycled garbage passing it off as Art. Every actor is underutilized, but the material itself is so tired and depleted of value that any misjudgments on the part of the filmmakers are trivial by comparison. I don't know how anyone could have made this interesting, but it probably would have helped to do, or not do, a few things:
Because we haven’t seen Joe Wright’s version (and may never). I am not capable of responding to everything else in part due to agreement and in part to not wanting to defend a movie which by all accounts has been butchered. I just don’t understand why not being original is a bad thing especially for narratives. Not everyone need be on the cutting edge.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The Woman in the Window (Joe Wright, 2021)

#55 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri May 14, 2021 4:52 pm

I feel like you took my post and for some reason broadened it to assume I'm on a soapbox damning all art that is not original. I outlined reasons in the spoilerbox as to what I mean by recycled in this context. Specifically we don't need more gimmicky psychological thrillers, movies with vacant protagonists wondering about their sanity, serving solely to provoke audiences but without putting thought into the mechanics of why these films have worked in the past, and why they continue to be intriguing enough to sell books and tickets. Intimacy to the material, and carefully constructed internal logics in general, are necessary assets to manipulate our bearings while keeping us invested, and have been forfeited in favor of bombastic noise in this case, and in several cases of films/books along these lines as of late. Maybe you do need to see this film to respond to my post in good faith, but to respond to what you don't understand, you're correct that not everything needs to be on the cutting edge. We are in agreement.

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swo17
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Re: The Woman in the Window (Joe Wright, 2021)

#56 Post by swo17 » Fri May 14, 2021 5:07 pm

Is it possible that along with our senses of taste and smell, COVID has also taken away the ability for movies to be good anymore?

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aox
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Re: The Woman in the Window (Joe Wright, 2021)

#57 Post by aox » Fri May 14, 2021 5:13 pm

Movies, in and of themselves, are so pretentious to begin with.

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domino harvey
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Re: The Woman in the Window (Joe Wright, 2021)

#58 Post by domino harvey » Fri May 14, 2021 5:34 pm

Truth. Why watch a movie when you can go out there and live out an adventure by playing Settlers of Catan?

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The Woman in the Window (Joe Wright, 2021)

#59 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri May 14, 2021 5:57 pm

swo17 wrote:
Fri May 14, 2021 5:07 pm
Is it possible that along with our senses of taste and smell, COVID has also taken away the ability for movies to be good anymore?
I'm watching Mainstream, so it certainly feels that way, and I'm trying to fight the urge to open up a tab to sign onto Catan Universe. Focusing on Maya Hawke helps. Andrew Garfield's histrionic character, not so much

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jazzo
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Re: The Woman in the Window (Joe Wright, 2020)

#60 Post by jazzo » Fri May 14, 2021 9:09 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Fri May 14, 2021 4:21 pm
Monterey Jack wrote:
Fri May 14, 2021 4:18 pm
This would have tanked HARD had it been released to theaters (even pre-Pandemic), and now it's nothing more than the worst movie of Joe Wright's career (and yes, I include Pan in that).
First of all, Pan was great. Second, you're probably right.
I haven't seen Pan or this new film, but I have, for lack of a better term, experienced all the others, and, honestly, isn't every movie Joe Wright makes the worst movie of Joe Wright's career? For me, the dude peaked with his four episodes of Bob & Rose in 2001.

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domino harvey
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Re: The Woman in the Window (Joe Wright, 2021)

#61 Post by domino harvey » Fri May 14, 2021 9:31 pm

No

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Brian C
I hate to be That Pedantic Guy but...
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:58 am
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Re: The Woman in the Window (Joe Wright, 2021)

#62 Post by Brian C » Fri May 14, 2021 9:47 pm

Eh, I’d still rather go see this in theatres this weekend than the new SAW spinoff. So opportunity missed, as I see it.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The Woman in the Window (Joe Wright, 2021)

#63 Post by therewillbeblus » Sat May 15, 2021 2:12 am

People really dislike Joe Wright that much? I thought his literary adaptations were good (I know I've seen at least a few of them a while ago and remember liking them, though can't recall many specifics) and Hanna is great. Even though I didn't care for The Darkest Hour in terms of personal investment, it was a very competently made movie, and that's probably being less charitable than it deserves.

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Mr Sausage
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Re: The Woman in the Window (Joe Wright, 2021)

#64 Post by Mr Sausage » Sat May 15, 2021 9:32 am

I like his Pride and Prejudice more than the beloved miniseries. A surprisingly earthy and vital film.

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: The Woman in the Window (Joe Wright, 2021)

#65 Post by knives » Sat May 15, 2021 10:00 pm

I’d probably go as far as to say he’s the best of that Miramax generation of British filmmakers which I recognize is damning with faint praise. He has a great sense of narrative and has gotten increasingly experimental with age in a way that I find rare like trying to transcribe the De Oliviera/ Rohmer theatrical painting experiments to a Hollywood grammar.

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