Interesting, Entertaining, Fraudulent

Rating: 6/10 (11 June 2009)

Well. I watched the movie. Then I read some of the reviews. C'mon, you guys. This is not =Kubrick=. This is a not some serious investigation of a sadistic narcissist. This is not a "great" film. (Although it =is= entertaining here and there.)
This is a PARODY.
If I was =supposed= to get caught up in this, I didn't. If I was =supposed= to experience terror, I didn't. If I was =supposed= to think this guy was The Terminator, I didn't.
And that's why I gave this thing a six. The writer and director couldn't seem to decide if this was supposed to be a comedy of manners or a snuff movie. We're supposed to take this guy seriously? How can we?
Now, I know about genre-mixing. The Cohens do it really well. So did Stanley in his day. But genre-mixing requires a deft touch, and what I see here is a ham fist.
One has to feel something about at least the major characters to be drawn in or carried along. If one can feel anything for this guy or any of his "pals," blow-up sex dolls, or victims, I'd be surprised.
That was the magic of "No Country for Old Men." Anton may have been a thoroughgoing whack, but he made us feel. This guy can decompensate all he wants, but I don't believe any of it. (Not because he =does= decompensate, but because it doesn't hold any water.)