Review of Elephant (2003) by Joeg. — 30 Aug 2006

Man, I can respect a negative opinion when the person makes the case, but some of these negative reviews are pretty shallow. "Cliched characters?" Yeah, who ever heard of a jock with a hot girlfriend? Or dorky looking girls who aren't popular? Oh wait, that's REALITY.

To be fair, a lot of TV shows and movies handle these kind of characters in clichéd ways, but this movie actually does everything with a realistic feel, so much that everything on the WB looks really phony when you turn it on right after the movie's over.

I really dug this movie, but it's definitely not for everybody. Some people will never get over the subject matter. Then there's the movie's approach - this movie's all about mood.

If you're expecting a conventional narrative, forget about it, this isn't that kind of movie. Does that make it less accessible? Yes. It doesn't make it a bad movie or a good movie either, it just means it's doing something different and original, and if you have an open mind, you might appreciate it too.

Also, some viewers accuse it of being shallow, and judging from their reviews, I think they were expecting an "answer" or a better explanation for the violence. You're not going to get a clear answer.

There's a lame scene involving a Nazi documentary, but this movie isn't out to explain everything like some ridiculous report on NBC Dateline. Instead it reminds you what it's like to be back in high school - the mundane details and the sort of isolated existance people can have without realizing it, even when they're constantly hanging out with other people and surrounded by dozens of students.

Columbine happened like 6 years ago, and every school made a huge deal of it for like a year, grappling at all the wrong answers and making themselves look out-of-touch in the process. Now they don't talk about it anymore, like it was some bad dream that people eventually forget.

Few people still talk about this movie too, but I'm glad it's still out there 'cause anyone who watches it may not stay so numb and oblivious to everything around them.