MOVIE OF THE WEEK #2 (9/29/17): WOODSHOCK
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| "Man, this new bed seems to be missing something ..." Theresa (Kirsten Dunst) wanders in and out of rest in a scene from Kate and Laura Mulleavy's debut film, the hazy drama WOODSHOCK. Credit: Courtesy of A24 Pictures. All rights reserved. |
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Kirsten Dunst, Joe Cole, Pilou Asbæk, Steph DuVall and Jack Kilmer
DIRECTOR(S): Kate and Laura Mulleavy
WEB SITE: https://a24films.com/films/woodshock
HERE'S THE STORY: Theresa (Kirsten Dunst) has just experienced a very grave and permanent loss ... Which makes her job at a medical marijuana dispensary one where she starts to empathize with her clients' struggles intimately. But while her boyfriend Nick (Joe Cole), dispensary boss Keith (Pilou Asbæk) and faithful customer Ed (Steph Duvall) all try to help her snap out of her fractured state, Theresa is seemingly drifting further and further into her own marijuana-induced abyss of darkness.
HERE'S THE STORY: Theresa (Kirsten Dunst) has just experienced a very grave and permanent loss ... Which makes her job at a medical marijuana dispensary one where she starts to empathize with her clients' struggles intimately. But while her boyfriend Nick (Joe Cole), dispensary boss Keith (Pilou Asbæk) and faithful customer Ed (Steph Duvall) all try to help her snap out of her fractured state, Theresa is seemingly drifting further and further into her own marijuana-induced abyss of darkness.
WHO WILL LIKE THIS FILM THE MOST? Potheads; stoners; people who love "artsy" movies; diehard fans of the Rodarte couture line; only the most diehard of Kirsten Dunst fans
WHO WON'T (OR SHOULDN'T) LIKE THIS MOVIE? Anyone with attention deficit disorder; medical marijuana advocates; anyone who hates all things hipsters; people who hate wacky/depressing pictures; all other Kirsten Dunst fans; Pilou Asbæk fans; most minorities who will have zero to relate to in this film; people who will wish they hadn't wasted an hour and 33 minutes before the credits hit
SO, IS IT GOOD, BAD OR ABSOLUTELY AWFUL? In the world of comedy, Christina Pazsitzky and Tom Segura (who yours truly may or may not have worked with in the past) are two hottest artists on the scene today. Accomplished stand-up comics in their own right, their podcast Your Mom's House is filled with scatalogical send-ups of a variety of topics, including what they have dubbed as "white people bummer movies." They may or may not have originated the term, but if one thing is for certain, it's that every year, Hollywood will roll out several titles billed as "exhilarating," "transcendent," "luminous" or with some other combination of buzz words that are exactly clear to cover up the hard reality that they, in effect, are just overproduced/overdone/underwhelming wastes of time.
Woodshock, the debut "film" by fashion magnates Kate and Laura Mulleavy, fits the description to an absolute "T;" and unfortunately for the Mulleavy, I don't mean one of their triple digit Rodarte line of t-shirts.
I'm not certain how long it would take me to fullyeviscerate articulate the litany of problems that are Woodshock, but I know after stopping and starting the film three, yes THREE, times to make sure I wasn't missing something, I know I didn't miss any of them. One could start with performance of lead Dunst, who isn't given much to do other than stare into mirrors, hug trees (literally) and smoke various forms of movie-approved spliffs and blunts. Dunst's character is so bland that when she walks around in her bra and panties doing nothing for extended sequences for so long it gets to the point that both male and female admirers wouldn't care and would happily have her put her clothes back on if it meant she was going to do anything to wake them from the film's lazily-paced stupor. Whereas in A24's other largely silent release of 2017 A Ghost Story Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck are able to draw out great emotion with saying hardly anything, Woodshock lulls you to near sleep to the point it becomes cinematic AmBien for an insomniac.
Asbæk and Cole likewise add little if nothing to the story, which plays itself out in boozy bars, dusty backyards and houses against what is supposed to be the freedom and awe of the California Redwoods. The cast notwithstanding, the film uses a cavalcade of worn-out visuals that, while looking pretty, do nothing other to help a likely-tired viewer that "this is Theresa being strung out" with music that haplessly falls into sad trombone cinema. What is supposed to be chic, fashionable and vibrant in assisting telling Theresa story – whatever it may be – instead comes off as worn out, faded and sleepy, which ironically may be perfect for the character but ineffective in making an audience care about it.
And therein lies the greatest obstacle in Woodshock achieving its goal – no one other than possibly the cast and the Mulleavy's likely knows what they were trying to achieve with the film. While one can obviously leave many parts of the film up to interpretation, Woodshock gives you no clear reason to care about Theresa, no clear reason to feel the story is worth telling and definitely no reason to make it feel like you have enjoyed it. Instead, you are left with a sparsely told, hazy visioned story of a woman suffering grief that puts its audiences through the same level of grief for no good reason.
And trust me, there is no good reason to see Woodshock unless you can't afford the drugs that would put you to sleep as quickly as this movie likely will.
SO, IS IT GOOD, BAD OR ABSOLUTELY AWFUL? In the world of comedy, Christina Pazsitzky and Tom Segura (who yours truly may or may not have worked with in the past) are two hottest artists on the scene today. Accomplished stand-up comics in their own right, their podcast Your Mom's House is filled with scatalogical send-ups of a variety of topics, including what they have dubbed as "white people bummer movies." They may or may not have originated the term, but if one thing is for certain, it's that every year, Hollywood will roll out several titles billed as "exhilarating," "transcendent," "luminous" or with some other combination of buzz words that are exactly clear to cover up the hard reality that they, in effect, are just overproduced/overdone/underwhelming wastes of time.
Woodshock, the debut "film" by fashion magnates Kate and Laura Mulleavy, fits the description to an absolute "T;" and unfortunately for the Mulleavy, I don't mean one of their triple digit Rodarte line of t-shirts.
I'm not certain how long it would take me to fully
Asbæk and Cole likewise add little if nothing to the story, which plays itself out in boozy bars, dusty backyards and houses against what is supposed to be the freedom and awe of the California Redwoods. The cast notwithstanding, the film uses a cavalcade of worn-out visuals that, while looking pretty, do nothing other to help a likely-tired viewer that "this is Theresa being strung out" with music that haplessly falls into sad trombone cinema. What is supposed to be chic, fashionable and vibrant in assisting telling Theresa story – whatever it may be – instead comes off as worn out, faded and sleepy, which ironically may be perfect for the character but ineffective in making an audience care about it.
And therein lies the greatest obstacle in Woodshock achieving its goal – no one other than possibly the cast and the Mulleavy's likely knows what they were trying to achieve with the film. While one can obviously leave many parts of the film up to interpretation, Woodshock gives you no clear reason to care about Theresa, no clear reason to feel the story is worth telling and definitely no reason to make it feel like you have enjoyed it. Instead, you are left with a sparsely told, hazy visioned story of a woman suffering grief that puts its audiences through the same level of grief for no good reason.
And trust me, there is no good reason to see Woodshock unless you can't afford the drugs that would put you to sleep as quickly as this movie likely will.
OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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