Scarlett In the Sky With the Kitchen Sink

Rating: 9/10 (28 July 2014)

I went into this with the vaguest idea what it was about, having seen the TV ads etc. I thought it was going to be more of a Carrie White goes super-spy type deal and it sort of was. I went to see it primarily for Ms. Johansson. I love her. I think she is one of the most gifted artists currently "on the scene". She can sing, she can dance, she can do it all. Damn, didn't she win a Tony too? I've found every single one of her screen performances to be flawless. She makes me believe every character she plays whether that be a Long Island Princess or trained assassin who hangs with a Norse God. "Lucy" is no exception. She brings to this performance a depth that it probably doesn't need or deserve; but because she does, the movie is all the more gripping. That being said... This movie requires the suspension of the suspension of disbelief. It is quite frankly ludicrous in its ideas and asinine in its assumptions. It is some kind of ultra-camp. But the execution is sublime. Besson just pulls out the stops with his storyline and somehow miraculously manages to successfully graft a drug heist caper movie onto a sci-fi thriller. Once I just gave in to the movie's preposterousness I was riveted from start to finish. The film excited me in a way that is rare. You know, when you feel you're seeing something fresh when you've seen everything a million times already? I found Lucy to be this kind of experience. Camp, intentional or not, often takes the viewer full circle. From the ridiculous to the sublime and back again. I was also entranced by some of the imagery. One critic said this movie is sort of like "The Tree of Life" if it had been directed by Michael Bay (and I'll add Tarantino as producer) and this is an apt description. But in this case, that's a great thing. "Lucy" I think is the kind of thing you're either gonna love or hate. I loved it. If you're willing not to take Lucy too seriously...or seriously at all...the strange thing is you might actually find it thought provoking.