The Railroad More Traveled

Rating: 7/10 (12 June 2020)

There are people out there with multiple personalities, but DID mostly manifests itself in dissociative episodes where you black out and get real vague for a while. That's it. DID represents as much as 1% of the global population. It's simply not as it's portrayed here. People like Kevin make up about 100 people in the world. And honestly, can't Hollywood vilify and stigmatize us with a bit more creativity? I'd just seen this nonsense with the third season of Iron Fist, and a variation on this nonsense in "Joker". But no, M. Night Shyamalan, for all his brilliance, takes the most obvious path. Is it good? Yes. James McAvoy turns stereotype into Shakespeare, via the B movie route, such that the flashes of comedy let us know none of it is to be taken that seriously. It's good. Yes, it does have its oddly exploitative moments. But I think you just let it all flow. I mean, whatever you want to call it, crazyface, I don't know, it's not so different from "Breakfast At Tiffany's" and, you have to admit: Audrey, those sunglasses. I mean, come on. So let James McAvoy do his (admittedly ridiculous) thing, and let Joaquin do his decidedly better thing, or anyone else who wants to pretend to live in this darker world, where nothing is like Hollywood. It's really a chance to show off some great acting, and the challenge of doing so in the most stereotypical and obvious way just adds to it, I guess.