Review of Marjorie Prime (2017) by Mmadnessgames — 26 Aug 2018

I read the plot summary of Marjorie Prime and I had to go and check it out. I'm tired of CG aliens and explosions dominating science fiction. I preferred the days of speculative fiction, rather than blockbuster/action science-fiction.

I was expecting something like Robot and Frank or Spike Jonze's Her, but I found the film seriously underwhelming. I will not remember it as a sci-fi highlight from this decade.

The writing is mixed. Sometimes it's worthy of great literature and at other times it is as stale, cold and mechanical as a bad episode of Star Trek: Next Generation.

There is too much exposition. Too much is revealed... There is no subtlety.

"You are a dead version of my husband.".

"I am your husband.".

"No. You are not him.".

"I will learn to be him.".

"You will never replace my husband!".

(Dramatisation.).

I could tolerate one iteration of this. Maybe two... But, by the time the third prime came along, I was a bit tired of hearing the same conversation.

Like I said, there is too much exposition. That is: too much being said to the audience, rather than to the characters themselves.

The concept of Primes is explained unnecessarily and in too much detail. They explain it themselves. "I will remember this." And, it is explained by the human characters. "They learn as they go along. Blah, blah, blah.".

None of it needs to be explained.

It should be organic; it should be revealed.

I'm a big fan of Tim Robbins and he does the best he can in Marjorie Prime but even he cannot salvage this film. The writing just isn't good enough, sometimes. A speech he delivers about different phases of inebriation is particularly cringe worthy. There's so much blatant exposition in this scene. He's talking to the audience. Telling them the backstory. The context is very flimsy. Compare this to the scene with Tim Robbins in Mystic River when he talks about vampires... It doesn't hold up.

Geena Davis looks like most old Hollywood actresses. She is a plastic surgery disaster. Big weird lips. Stretched taut face. It's sad watching her, onscreen. I'd rather she stay in hiding.

This film isn't bad...

It's just somewhat disappointing and forgettable.

The actors - when playing the prime versions of characters - are too wooden, particularly Jon Hamm. Again, it reminds me of Star Trek: Next Generation (of which I'm not a big fan).

This is one of those films that divides critics and audiences. User reviews are around 6/10, while critic reviews sit around 8/10... This is a result of the somewhat pretentious nature of the film. It tries too hard to be artistic, when - really - this should come about organically.

It is too self-aware, and too sure of itself.