by Kris Katz
Brief spoiler-free entertainment reviews

Saturday, September 29, 2007

The Brown Bunny (2003)

Easily the worst movie I've watched outside of an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Brown Bunny's reputation as one of the most awful movies ever to go to festival is well-earned. The problem isn’t the idea for the story—any idea can be a good one—nor is it the lack of dialogue, which can also be an asset in a supposedly introspective film such as this. The problem is its lack of anything even vaguely interesting going on. Virtually nothing happens in the movie. We’re treated to endless shots of landscapes filmed with a mediocre eye, shown several segments in almost complete silence, introduced to people and places that have no consequence, and endure a near-endless stream of allegedly deep thinking moments of cinema that all fall completely flat. It would be different if the audience was given something to latch onto: some inroad or emotion to relate to and consider, but we get nothing. All we get is a long, boring journey from one cripplingly inert place to another. If Vincent Gallo’s goal with this film was to illustrate exactly how soul-crushingly dull a solo road trip across the country can be, then he has succeeded admirably.

None out of 10.

No comments: