Review of Luce (2019) by Kenr — 18 Sep 2020

Stylishly produced and very well acted, with the makings of ‘some’ good writing – yet somehow Luce trips over its own cleverness. There are so many ‘statements’ on life lessons, history (both modern and past) political correctness, complex relationship issues and just about anything else that could be crammed into its running time. So much so, that it seems writers/producers/director, JC Lee and Julius Onah appeared to have a little difficulty tying it all together, failing to convey a satisfactory understanding of all the issues. The situations in question are all way too serious to gloss over, deserving a far more solid resolution to justify the disturbing end results.

Naomi Watts gives her usual sterling performance as Luce’s mother and there’s excellent support from all those around her. The Music score, while interesting, at times tends to come across as overbearing. Some will say they understood all the convoluted characters and their various activities but if questioned, will probably find they missed an important thread or two. It’s also doubtful a teacher would use four-letter words when talking to a parent about their son! Some of the content is interesting, but let down by a somewhat overly open ending - that has obviously left many of its audience unsatisfied.