Where the Crawdads Sing

-

 Where the Crawdads Sing [2022]

Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor John Smith, Harris Dickinson

Direction by Olivia Newman, Original story by Delia Owens

Language: English

To be honest, I didn't really know what I was coming into when I went to watch this movie. The trailer didn't really give me any information and I hadn't read the original book. However, I watched the movie with someone who had read the original story and she really did not like the movie. As somebody with a pair of objective eyes, I can say that the movie was average at best, and I don't know whether it was because the original book was bad, or if it was just the fault of the movie.

I feel like the storyline was super repetitive. It was just more of the same again and again. The same conflicts repeated several times, and the resolution was the same time and time again. I get that the movie was supposed to be a slow burn type of thing, and although I don't tend to enjoy movies like that much, sometimes they can work! (See my review of The Farewell to see how it can work). This movie was not one of those times. This movie was SO slow burn that I just got bored. The balance between intensity and action was dangerously flawed in this movie. There were definitely a few shocking scenes which I responded to, but they were few and far between. 

You can talk about the artistic shots of the moorland that were scattered into the film, and you could talk about how the set design was flawlessly executed, and perfectly in keeping with the writing of the main character's role. And whilst these are all valid points, if a viewer is not engaged with the material, what is the point? There isn't one. 

The other main critique I have is with the acting. The main character, Kya, is supposed to be an incredibly complex character, and I would expect a person with versatility to get cast into this role. If only Lily Collins or Lily James had been cast, but, unfortunately, Edgar-Jones portrayed Kya in an awkward and quite simply boring way. That's the most I can sugarcoat it. 

Edgar Jones wasn't the weakest link of this production, though. Her two main costars, Smith and Dickinson, are fighting for bottom spot on this one. I was surprised to find that Smith is a professional actor, considering that his acting talents match those of high school sophomores (but I think that even they could do better than him). And Dickinson! Any brain-dead brunette guy off the street could act in his role better than he could. I do not understand how the casting director could have made such a blatant error in judgement when casting this man. 

Because I don't want everything in this review to be negative, I thought that I would say that the people who made this movie more tolerable was the couple who ran the local convenience store. Even though I think the two of them had less than 10 minutes of screen time overall, they may have been the best casting choices in the movie.

I think that you can guess what my overall opinion about the movie was. In my opinion, do not waste your time. Maybe watch Titanic (one of my favourite movies: review before last) instead - it would be a much, MUCH better use of your time.

2.5/10 




Popular posts from this blog

Moonlight

-
Image
  MOONLIGHT [2016] Starring: Mahershala Ali, Janelle Monae, Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, Naomie Harris Direction by Barry Jenkins Language: English In 2016, I turned 11. I had watched La La Land in the cinema, but was too young to watch Moonlight. I loved musicals even then, and so I thought I was supposed to love the movie. So I resented Moonlight when they were the ones that ended up winning the Oscar on that fateful day in 2017. The movie has always been in the back of my mind: I've been wondering about it of late, and it was only until it came up on my Netflix recommended list that I decided to watch it.  Side note: I didn't realise that A24 was involved in the production and distribution of so many critically acclaimed films! Moonlight, Lady Bird, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Whale, Aftersun. The list goes on and on. A24 is my kind of production house, that's for certain.  What can I say about Moonlight? It was alright, I guess? I don't know. I watche...
Read more

Days of Being Wild

-
Image
  Days of Being Wild [1990] Starring: Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Andy Lau, Carina Lau Direction by Wong Kar-wai Language: Cantonese, Mandarin I was very lucky to find that in my city, a local independent cinema was having a Wong Kar-wai retrospective, where they were showing Wong Kar-wai's most influential movies in a bid to increase tourism to Hong Kong. I had originally wanted to watch 'In the Mood For Love' on the big screen, yet it sold out almost instantly. In response, I watched this instead, and I am so glad that I did.  If the movie does anything well, it is character development that excels. Although the movie was quite short, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of symbolism Kar-wai was able to pack into it. All of the characters felt very fleshed out, but not the the point where their storylines became repetitive, as is the case with may Western movies. Kar-wai's craft, in my opinion, is giving the audiences small hints throughout his movies, meaning t...
Read more

Bunty Aur Babli

-
Image
  Bunty Aur Babli [2005] Starring: Rani Mukerji, Abhishek Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan Direction by Shaad Ali Language: Hindi After reviewing a few movies, I have realised that I only watch Bollywood movies if I have listened to the songs beforehand and have enjoyed them! In this case, members of my family have singing Kajra Re  since I was born! In other reviews, I have mentioned how I tend not to enjoy crime/action films. However, a crime film put together with some incredibly extravagant choreography, a budding romance and you've got me hooked. Finally, I have seen a movie that isn't just a soppy romance in its entirety! What is interesting about this movie is the shift in narrative: the writers of Bollywood films, to this day, have an obsession with the western world. You'll be hard pressed to find a movie that doesn't take you to the streets of New York or London for a dance number. Most movies often centre around the movement of NRIs (non resident Indians) to and fr...
Read more