Review of Laurence Anyways (2012) by Alejandro O — 16 Jun 2015

After watching what is now labelled as my favourite film of all time, Mommy, I decided to have a look at Laurence Anyways. At nearly three hours, it's entirely too long, needlessly padded out with an intrusive interview-framing device. The excessive length of "Laurence Anyways" is a major concern. Three hours is a long time for any picture to work out its conflicts, yet this movie doesn't share anything that couldn't be solved in 90 minutes. Laurence Anyways is a formidable display of French Canadian director Xavier Dolan's prodigious talents, but also a case study of a young talent still finding his way to greatness. He'll get there one day, soon, but this film doesn't quite do it. Stylistically, Dolan packs the proceedings with an eclectic and experimental - and occasionally pretentious - audio-visual palette that helps keep things lively even when the film bogs down in narrative excess. It's ambitious, sold with terrific cinematography that's committed to exquisite lighting, but the symbolism is crushing, trying too hard to communicate concepts the viewer already understands. It's an intriguing, oddly satisfying conceit - if only it didn't take so very long to get there. Laurence Anyways has the feel of a personal project that got away from Dolan, full of raw, rough-edged drama in desperate need of discipline and refinement.

VERDICT: "In The Zone" - [Mixed Reaction] These kinds of movies are usually movies that had some good things, but some bad things kept it from being amazing. This rating says buy an ex-rental or a cheap price of the DVD to own. If you consider cinema, ask for people's opinion on the film. (Films that are rated 2.5 or 3 stars).