Review of Frank (2014) by Matt C — 19 Mar 2016

This movie is weird. It's endearing, but it's very weird. Not Kubrick-weird or artsy, but endearing in its originality that stems from its weirdness. When you have a movie about a guy that wears a fake head at all times, it's easy for the movie to be cynical towards its characters, but it's respectful instead.

There are funny jabs at bruting musicians and social media, but it's lighthearted. The movie knows what tone to carry when - especially given the rather dark places that this movie goes to - but its tonal shifts are too extreme and quick to make without coming off as a bit jarring.

The actors are all terrific: Fassbender balances subtly with weirdness, Gyllanhaal is deadpan and funny, and Gleeson does well with having to be a character existing to make the film accessible to audiences.

It's between the kindness of its characters and the acting that makes the film really interesting when it comes to characterization. However, I wish that certain character arcs were elaborated on, as they seemed to be based more off of ideas than fully executed ideas, at least from a writing standpoint.

On another note (no pun intended), the music is good. It's horrible when it wants to be stupid, but us actually very good otherwise. I'd be open to buying the soundtrack. This will probably grow on me with time, but I still really liked it.

I appreciate thing that are different, and this movie definitely is. 8.3/10, very good, one thumb up, above average, etc.