Review of My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2010) by Jonp. — 17 Jan 2010
This movie is shockingly bad. The story line is a mess, and what little story one gets is supremely uninteresting. The main character is a guy in his 30s who acts like a marginally functional 12-year-old.
His "obviously crazy" pronouncements and behavior are very dull and they are usually portrayed through flash backs. Flash back is anachronistic and annoying to begin with, especially when it is used to flesh out a character as one-dimensional and uninteresting as "Brad.
" The women around Brad do nothing but humor his weird behavior, which has the unfortunate result of dragging the movie out in a most frustrating way. Chloe Sevigny, who plays Brad's love interest, just floats along with his ravings in a somnolent, unconvincing performance (we're supposed to believe that this attractive young woman has no better option than to stick around and watch Brad's disintegration).
Grace Zabriskie, an actress who has made a career out of playing lunatic women, tags along as a very David Lynchesque mother figure (which is no accident since David Lynch is the movie's executive producer).
I saw this movie based on the fact that Werner Herzog directed it, despite serious reservations about the presence of the now very overexposed Willem Dafoe. "My Son, My Son..." reminded me that Herzog, while brilliant, is also very uneven.
He has produced great stuff and really terrible stuff. Unfortunately, this movie belongs in the latter category.
This review of My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2010) was written by Jonp. on 17 Jan 2010.
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done has generally received mixed reviews.
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