Review of Tusk (2014) by Joe M — 13 Jan 2015

This is like no other Kevin Smith movie I have ever seen. As a fan of his work, I enjoyed the dark humor and character interactions. I particulalry liked the character portrayed by Johny Depp, who in my opinion carried the movie as much as Justin Long. Hailey Jole also has a huge contribution in one of his best adult roles.

But then Smith takes this movie to extremes never seen before, making Human Centapede seem tame and even realistic in comparison. I appreciate that this movie pushed the boundaries of what Hollywood will allow in theaters. I also think the concept of a man turning into an animal has been popular concept throughout cinematic history and one that I have enjoyed in most cases. From the wolfman, to the Fly and the primate in Altered States. But none of these examples were surgically turned in an animal against their will. The only example that comes close is a character from South Park who's get operations to turn into a dolphin. However he chose to have the operation and it's a cartoon where there are no consiquences. A live action movie had a much larger impact on me.

If it wasn't for the fact the scenes with Long as a walrus were extremely unsettling, I would have given this movie 5 stars for dialog, dark humor and the story about a hunt for a serial killer. If they had held back a little this movie could had been the next Silence of the Lambs. Being so shocking was most likely the goal for Kevin Smith. Smoking weed can give you ideas you would never think of or even think of thing would would be a scared to otherwise. It would be nice to live in California where I could have got some of the promtional stuff associated with the movie becuase I would like to be as creative.

I know this movie will be with me for the rest of my life. Like 2 Girls 1 Cup, there are some things you can't unsee. I would recommend this movie to anyone feeling brave and interested in having their boundaries of what they are comfortable with pushed to unknown limits. Think Faces of Death with the comfort that you know its just a movie.