One of a kind movie about love (mandatory or prohibited)

Rating: 8/10 (28 May 2016)

"The Lobster" (2015 release from Europe; 118 min.) opens with a bang, literally. In the pre-opening credit scene, we see a woman getting out of her car, running into the field, and shooting a donkey (spurring gasps from the theater audience, more on that later). After the opening credits, we get to know David, whose wife has just left him. David is taken to a hotel where he now has 45 days to find a new mate or be transformed into an animal. If it gets that far, he chooses to be a lobster ("because they live to be a hundred, have blue blood in them, and are fertile their entire life"). "Excellent choice" responds the hotel manager, adding "most people choose to be a dog, that's why you see dogs everywhere". Will David find a mate? Or will he become a lobster? To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from Greek writer-director Yorgos Lanthimos, who previously gave us the brilliant "Dogtooth". This is his debut English language film. Here he brings us a completely original, truly one-of-a-kind, story about love, be it mandatory love (first half of the movie), or prohibited love (second half of the movie). The movie feels strangely dispassionate yet engaging, in particular in the last 45 minutes. Colin Farrell brings the performance of a lifetime as David, your average "Joe Six Pack", slight beer belly and all. Even though Rachel Weisz gets second-to-top billing, she doesn't appear until the second half of the movie, but when she finally does, she blows everyone away as "Short Sighted Woman". There are many other choice performances, though: check out French actress Léa Seydoux as the ruthless leader of the "loners", always on the lookout to detect (and punish--"red kiss" anyone?) any flirting between the loners. In the opening credits, all the different co-producers seemingly amount to a mini-European Union summit, as LOTS of European countries co-financed this movie. It's almost amazing to me that such an original and let's face it, very unconventional idea was able to garner the necessary financing or was able to convince first rate stars like Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz to sign on to this. But the main thing is that Lanthimos made it happen somehow.
"The Lobster" made a huge splash at the 2015 Cannes film festival. No idea why it's taken another full year to find its way onto the screen here in the US but better late than never I suppose. The movie opened this weekend at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati, and I couldn't wait to see it. the Friday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended okay, but just okay (about 10-12 people). After the initial gasps, the audience settled in and laughed at all the right times. I can't see this playing in theaters a very long time, the movie is too "weird" and off-center for that. I happen to think it's one of the most original movies about love I've seen in a very, very long time, and would readily suggest that you check this out, be it in theaters, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray. "The Lobster" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!