Review of Mandy (2018) by John M — 13 Sep 2018

Well, this is a thing. Set in an alternate version of 1983, this is about a couple (Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough) who aren't going to stay happy for too much longer. There's a group of cultists that aim to split them apart, but you can only push a man so far before vengeance consumes him whole.

Now I didn't walk into this with any expectations. I have a friend that is a big time Nicolas Cage fan and a horror aficionado, so when I caught a trailer, I sent it his way and he, in turn, alerted me when this was finally hitting theaters.

I didn't expect there to be much interest for this in the Jacksonville community, but I clearly doubted the pull of the Cage, because the theater I saw this in was at about 80% capacity. There was a theater rep that made an announcement and described this as a stoner film, which made me grow wary.

.. then it actually started, and I was never able to find my onramp onto this highway. Now I don't want to go so far to use the dreaded P-word, because I've tried as hard as I can to remove that from my vocabulary, but I will say that this is a very self-indulgent movie.

It is really two movies in one, and I don't think the either half complements the other at all. The first hour of this feels like it was made by a film student who is in love with David Lynch, but doesn't understand that you have to weave in a worthwhile narrative to make a movie.

It is even further verified when they pull a direct quote from Blue Velvet (my all-time favorite). I may have been able to label this homage if I was into it, but everything about this is just weird for the sake of being weird.

I spent the majority of the first half of this just looking for anything that I could attach myself onto or even relate to, and I never even began to approach that point. The second half of this is an unhinged Nicolas Cage revenge grindhouse flick after he was noticeably tame and absent for the beginning.

This would be the point where I would start having fun, because that is when this starts winking for the camera, but the movie just spent a full 60 - 70 minutes taking itself completely seriously, so I was unable to get into the over-the-top action gore comedy, either.

I will say that this movie's saving grace is that it is very good looking. All the cinematography is well thought out, and it always has a distinct look about it. I do think that this is a major case of style over substance, and with there being so many extensive stretches in the first half of this where there is nothing happening, I would be lying if I said that I didn't get bored.

I think that Mandy is largely inaccessible and very inefficient storytelling at a full two hours, and I think it would work best as a background movie to have on low at a party.