A Reflection of Our Society

Rating: 10/10 (19 February 2008)

This was a very good movie and I would definitely recommend it but it is 2 hours and 40 minutes with it being slow at times. Still it has some great acting, musical score, cinematography with good directing.
Casey Affleck has had a great year in acting with this movie and Gone Baby Gone. He gives such a deep, authentic and complex performance you could say he deserved an Oscar for it . He has what his brother Ben Affleck does not have, dedication to the character and the meanings and purpose they have within them. When I think about his performances and roles in both Gone Baby Gone and this really makes me wonder about myself and my character. Brad Pitt gave a very interesting performance as well but I still did not find it to be that great. At times he was a bit over the top but this is not to say that he was not good.
What really transformed this movie was the cinematography and directing. The directing and cinematography really delivered on what the purpose of this movie is. It helped you understand the feelings, personalities but most of all the complexities of all the characters involved in the story. The cinematography and music fused together and really made me get a feel for the story and the movie.
In a way this movie reflects our society today. The message of this movie was really deep and meaningful saying that everyone plays a role in society even if you don't like your role that is what you are. The public determines your destiny and image. It depicts gang life and how betrayal is the worst act that can be committed and in which loyalty is a must even if you know longer have relations with it. It shows how there always has to be a necessary evil or a scape goat no matter what effect it has on people because people do not want to blame themselves they want to blame others instead. This is movie happens to take place in the west rather than it being a western. This movie/story tries to tell us something that is deeply embedded in our minds and in our society. It displays what we think of ourselves is drastically different of the image of ourselves from other people.