Review of Third Person (2014) by Wayne T — 28 Mar 2015

Review:

This is a complex drama about 3 different stories which completely didn't make sense to me. You've got Adrien Brody, falling for a stranger in a bar and ending up giving all of his money to her, so she can release her kidnapped daughter. Then you've got James Franco fighting for the custody of his boy, against Mila Kunis whose been accused of harming him. Then you've got the confusing story of Liam Neeson who is a successful writer whose having a relationship with Olivia Wilde who has some personal issues. I really found this movie confusing because none of there stories came to a conclusion. When the whole story unfolds at the end, I still didn't have a clue about what I had just watched, which upset me because it's over 2 hours long. The individual storylines were quite good and the performances from the A class actors were great but it takes way too long to come together and when it does, it still doesn't make any sense. After seeing the bonus footage on the DVD, the director says that he deliberately made it confusing because that is the way he writes so I honestly don't think that the film is supposed to make any real sense. Maybe that's why it failed at the box office and why I hadn't heard of it before it got released on DVD. Anyway, this movie got on my nerves after a while because the storyline are all over the place, without much explanation, so it has to get the thumbs down from me. Disappointing!

Round-Up:

How the hell did this director get this film wrong, with so many great actors to work with? It comes from the writer/director of Crash, who done a great job with that movie and he also wrote Million Dollar Baby and Casino Royale so he's not new to the game. This movie, which is mostly based on relationships, could have been so much better if the various stories joined together at the end but the director over complicated everything by trying to be clever and over complex. On the plus side, he did show a completely different side to Liam Neeson which shows that he is truly a great actor but his character was really confusing. I didn't get the conclusion of the James Franco and Mila Kunis situation because it ends quite abruptly, which was also a big disappointment. At the end of the day, I found the movie a right mess, which is a shame because the concept wasn't bad.

Budget: N/A.

Worldwide Gross: $1million.

I recommend this movie to people who are into their complex dramas about 3 different stories which are all based around relationships. 4/10.