Final Cut (1998)

Really Surprised!

Purely Joyful Movie!

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Blistering performances.

The first fifteen minutes I had my doubts on whether I was going to waste my time or have a good time with this movie. But it quickly increases in a good way so that I was totally absorbed by the story. The story is actually going somewhere even though my first doubts. I even didn't see the end coming, absolutely not, I was totally surprised by it. The story is a simple but effective concept. Hidden cameras that bring the truth about the lives of a bunch of friends. We all know how people are badmouthing others when they are absent and in Final Cut it is shown to them in a sometimes provocative way. There is a lot of cursing, but it fits the movie, because I think I would curse a lot as well if it happened to me. The best performance is from Ray Winstone that plays one of the major roles, as well as Jude Law. The whole cast is perfect for this movie. Not my favorite kind of film shooting but in this case it works perfectly well.

Jude is dead(and not in this all that much). At his funeral(note that there are almost no real introductions, you're just there and you gradually figure out what is going on, what you're seeing), his widow Sadie asks that the group of friends and couples sit down and watch the movie he was working on, and that they allow themselves to be filmed(and for some reason, while they do behave like there's a camera near them some of the time(and these operators appear to not know how to zoom, so they shove it into their subjects face instead), about half the time, they apparently completely forget it; yeah, some of this utterly falls apart beyond restoration when you stop to think about it). It turns out to be a documentary, assembled largely from footage captured with hidden recorders(there are a few interviews), and that is what we follow, as well... the two layers of fiction pretending to be fact. It'd probably work better if there were more reaction shots. Anyway, secrets come out and we see how their relationships are(are they playing themselves? Possibly). I should clarify something; this didn't bother me from the cruelty of the stunt, and the "different" style didn't ruin this for me... make your piece however you feel it should, and don't let people complain just because it isn't mainstream. The thing is, this really had potential... and still does. I'm sure this wanted to make some significant point, though it didn't get there. Yes, this is nihilistic and cynical... I didn't mind that. Others will. The pace is uneven and this comes off rather unfocused. You know, what little exposure to reality shows(yes, I hate them; that wasn't my issue with this) I've had, they actually do have plot lines and encourage continued viewing... this comes off as not wanting you to watch. I mean, you feel bad about it. OK, maybe that was the idea. If it was either real, or credible through the entire thing, maybe it would still work. Or if it didn't eventually go for a coherent story structure, at the end when it also stops being believable(and don't get me started on the anti-climax). The "twist" is so predictable you're sitting there wondering if they're serious. Winstone dominates this unchallenged... and yes, he(and the other men in this) delivers a great performance(good thing, because the women do *not*). The man is quite imposing... but you need counterweight. Some of these characters *really* don't need to be there, you could cut them out and you wouldn't miss them at all. None of them are wholly likable. This has a lot of improvisation and they used the first takes(they would add content if something was reshot... it shows). The editing is reasonable. This has odd framing and this feels "natural"(...a bit of the way, at least), with fast talking and slang(you'd better be British or have better subtitles than the copy I got as a gift did). There is a ton of strong language, a little bloody violence, disturbing content(this is gross at times) and sexuality and brief male nudity in this. The DVD comes with 8 trailers for different flicks, one of them for this. I recommend this low-budget 87 minute(sans credits) indie to those who merely want to see the concept of witnessing humanity's true ugliness... regardless of how well-executed it is. 6/10

I had seen "Love, Honour & Obey" some years ago and remembered it as not that bad. It wasn't as original as "Trainspotting", as funny as it wanted to be and the gory scenes seemed a little too much just wanna be provocative, because it might look great on screen. But it was OK to watch.THIS FILM was not a little bit of of any of it. The poor quality was alright for the camera, because it belonged to the story - but unfortunately I could not find one character that could have awakened my interest. I watched a lot of stupid blokes doing stupid things and I don't belong to the people, who get off on watching women either being beaten by their boyfriends or portrayed as whores, who in the end get what they deserve. Oh - and Jude Law was so convincing that I was happy, when he eventually got killed. Actually the killing scene was not that bad.So far: matter of taste.The story was told in a confusing way, but you could get used to that. And why put so many characters on a film, if you then don't know what to do with them? But maybe they thought it wouldn't be necessary to develop characters because of all the cool violent scenes - why bother with a decent script?

I knew nothing at all about this film before I went to see it, so I was very surprised by it's content. Basically, a group of friends gather at the wake of one of their friends who has died. At this wake, they are shown a video that he has produced consisting of secret film taken of them all. This video gives away some of their deepest and darkest secrets, as well as giving an insight into what they really think of each other. For about the first fifteen minutes I found myself lost as to what was going on, but then it all starts to become clear and leads up to the sting at the end. Be aware though that the language is very strong and some of the actions in it are quite explicit. Despite this, though, I found it very enjoyable and I was absolutely hooked to it for most of the time. As an aside, if you've ever watched 'Operation Good Guys' on BBC you will recognise a lot of the cast.