Will This Be Your Favorite

Rating: 7/10 (23 December 2018)

Robbie K with another quick review as he hits the more artistic nature of the film this holiday season. With a wonderful reception at the various film festivals, this movie held high hopes for being a winning masterpiece for the late year. With a promising cast, good direction, and a unique twist to normal films, I went in eagerly to see what awaited. What was the verdict? Robbie's reviews here to share his opinions as he reviews:
Movie: The Favourite (2018)
Director:
Yorgos Lanthimos
Writers:
Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara
Stars:
Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz

LIKES:
The Acting
The Setting
The Costumes/Makeup
The Character Development
The Strategy
The Presentation, mostly
Summary: Film festival features are seldom squandered out of acting, and the Favourite is no exception. Rachel Weisz succeeds in her abilities as the lady of the manor, with poise, regality, and a cunning nature fitting of the character designed. Stone's transition throughout the movie is admirable, starting on end of the personality spectrum, yet showing the evolving psyche of the players of late century politics. Colman as well is an integral piece, ushering in the role and acting as the key pillar for this mad state of affairs.
But acting aside, The Favourite stands out for it's beautiful setting, with the location team and set crew working hand and hand to fashion a fitting battlefield for our femme fatales of the silver screen. The manor and all its hallowed halls and manicured lawns will take you on that international trip to historical England, immersing you into the themes at hand. As such, the characters themselves are quite dashing in their costumes, every politician, maid, and governmental officiant a welcoming tribute to the paintings of old. The leading women in particular have ravishing costumes and makeup, helping to unleash the full effect of the movie.
Yet it is the character centric story that really takes all the aforementioned strengths and pulls them together. The Favourite's focus on developing all the characters, including a few secondary characters that at first seem mere parlor tricks. As the film progresses, the strategy at hand also starts to evolve in a Game Of Thrones like technique without so much blood and murder, as inner wants and jealousy lead to some rather interesting choices. And all of this is presented beautifully in the film work's techniques. Odd angles and dark hallways mirror the tone of the movie, as a haunting soundtrack of European orchestra plays in the back adding more to the emotions of the characters. Presenting all of this as if it were a Shakespearean play only adds to the ambience of the movie, and helps this film stand out a little more in terms of artistic wonder. Yes, it certainly feels like a Thespian tragedy at hand and a nod to this approach and helping it shine in victory.
DISLIKES:
The Pace at times
The Animal Cruelty
The Inclusion Of Seedier Culture
The Ending's Finesse
Summary: While artistic and brilliantly presented, the movie for me ran a little slow at times. The opening of the film did its introduction well, with the first couple of acts taking time to introduce the world in appropriate detail. Eventually as the rivalry develops. Things really start to take off, only to slightly take a rather large detour that offset the pace disrupting the very thing I fell in love with on the movie, with the end probably being where the steam was fully lost. Certainly some of the loss of detail comes in with the focus of documenting every move in this game of human chess, which I didn't mind.
Instead, the real loss of pace came from some of the extra details added for more of a cultural reflection of the times (details Shakespeare loved). While some of the animal cruelty showed the off the past times of the British high life, I did not need to see the repeated defeat of the small creatures, while other times were just unnecessary quirks that seemed forced and rushed in at the end. In addition some of the seedier shots such as rape, self-pleasure, and other acts of hazing didn't quite add anything to the story or feel of the movie, when my main goal was to see the power play between the two champion actresses. Sadly, this semi-focus on the animalistic side of the characters sort of deterred from the plot for me and added unnecessary length to the movie.
And like my fellow reviewers, I do agree that the film's ending did not quite suit me given all the build-up. It ends rather vaguely, and although it mirrors the Greek Tragedy's delivery, it did not quite have the same satisfaction that those ancient playwrights had. Instead, it seemed that the Favourite had a rather rushed, messy finish that gives you all the pieces you need to draw up your own conclusions of what occurred. Outside of throwing off the pace in the final two acts, the ending just didn't deliver that last punch I had wanted, or at least in the manner I wanted.

The VERDICT:
Overall the Favourite is worthy of much of the praise it received from the festivals. The presentation is beautiful on many levels as it deters from the usual linear fashion, and it seems to really pay tribute to the tragedies that this tale is based on. In addition the story really speaks out to the culture and darker parts of history that sometimes don't get told in the text books. Yet, it's ironically that very presentation that took some of the flair away from the movie, as getting lost in the grimier aspects of human nature threw off the pace of the film and left the ending a semi-complete telling that could have used twenty minutes more to flesh out the final number with that woman's scorn I think we wanted. Overall, the movie gets points for its presentation style, but it may not quite have all the categories needed to warrant a trip to the movies in my opinion. Still, give this one a try at home if you are looking for something.

My scores are:
Biography/Comedy/Drama: 7.5
Movie Overall: 7.0