Review of Wildlife (2018) by Pomattovich — 18 Oct 2018
Paul Dano’s directorial debut looks beautiful, has a typically excellent performance from Carrie Mulligan, and has a story that feel like Philip Roth without the Judaism. But I don’t think the prose of the book translate all that well to this internalized story.
What I'm sure is richly descriptive in the book feels repetitive and tedious here. Mulligan is great but feels like a supporting character in her own story, constantly disappearing behind closed doors while we stay with the gaze of her son and his reaction shots.
There's a rather dramatically moving story here, but too much of it happens offscreen. I should acknowledge that I seem to be in the minority on this. The audience at the screening was rapturous. I was disappointed.
This review of Wildlife (2018) was written by Pomattovich on 18 Oct 2018.
Wildlife has generally received positive reviews.
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