Enjoy this more on every viewing. Mann's protagonists are endlessly interesting to me, not in spite of them being so widely misunderstood, but because of it. While it's true that indulgent macho melodrama is his trademark, anyone willing to look beyond the fetishisation of weaponry and worship of rock music can see that he interrogates masculinity like no other mainstream filmmaker.
Figures who at first appear stoic and rational are truly governed by their emotions, often to the detriment of…
It's more effective than antidepressants and cheaper than weed
Commercial yet transgressive, conventional yet avant garde, reactionary yet revolutionary
A predictably-written and morally obvious film. The first act shows promise but this rarely ascends beyond televisual mediocrity. Scorsese's Green Book
Edit, elaboration: This is a story worth telling, it's just told so fucking poorly at every level, from screenplay to performance. I suppose I can see why DiCaprio's character could be an interesting perspective to explore this narrative from, but he is a noxious, thinly-defined caricature whose change of heart feels improbable (in the form that it's presented in).…
