Great Performances but Ultimately Sorely Lacking

Rating: 6/10 (10 January 2019)

So much good, so much bad. After wishing it would end, it finally did, and as I always do, I sorted out why I felt so disheartened in the aftermath. Do we make art for its own sake, or should there be a greater purpose? Why tell this story? There is nothing that inspires humanity by it, it's cold and heartless. Yet the performances by Colman, Weisz and Stone are exceptional, it almost constitutes must-see material. Why such a waste? You relate to Stone's desperate position at first, and yet the cruelty she is driven to inflict makes little sense. There is humanity in her performance, but not in the writing. There is no arc in the sense of self-reflection that what she does, the games they play, weigh on their conscious. Once the game is afoot, it's one ploy after another, for what? To gain the good graces of the Queen? To preserve their social status? This is the reason this film falls so flat. It will not allow for some true humanity to play a part. Stone will stop at nothing to gain favor, and she is not written to have any doubt about how her actions will affect Weisz. It's not believable or realistic, though not Stone's fault. Yes, in those days if we only understood the pressure she must have felt to avoid going back to the way things were, being raped ad nauseum in normal peasant life.. That's what we're told to buy, and even if it were true, there is more complexity to that than this film is willing to explore. When those don't land, we start to wonder.. Why the irritating commitment to fish bowl shots? Why the historically anachronistic irreverence? It's fun to someone writing it perhaps, and 'funny', but it only serves to weaken any truth the film was close to touching upon. A waste. Makes you think, yes. So I gave it six stars out of ten. The performances, from all three (lead) actors are worth the price of admission. But this film has little to really say about anything. It strengthens the general understanding that our world is horrible. But I think we can do much better, and telling this story with more vulnerability and honesty instead of the commitment to absurdity, comedy, vulgarity, and flair would have honored the amazing acting that saves the film from complete future anonymity.