I really enjoyed Destin Daniel Crettons' directed Short Term 12. It was very subtle, had a very nice tone to it and felt like an "indie movie".The Glass Castle felt like a "Hollywood movie". Is that a good thing? When combined with the plot and the mood of the film - no.
About the movie: The Glass Castle is not linear - it switches between two timelines in Brie Larsons portrayed Jeannettes (main character and we basically follow her and her observations) and her family's life. You see the present time but the past is the one which leads the whole thing. You get to see the messiness and how it got that way. It's just a story (based on true events) about an... unusual family (somewhat hippy-like parents with issues and as a result - a bit damaged children) and their different struggles.
Despite the good work from mainly Brie La
rson, Naomi Watts and Woody Harrelson it was just too predictable and filled with cliche moments that I couldn't fully enjoy their performances. Or maybe the script was lacking, I will never be able to tell. Also - Max Greenfields character felt like an upgraded Schmidts version from New Girl. Don't know who's at fault there.
It's a proper drama however it was either filled with too many messed up sh*t together or just should've been even longer to completely resolve everything (why resolve you ask? Remember the "Hollywood movie" factor I mentioned? Well there you have it).
From a time-jumping perspective it was quite decent. It was pretty easy to follow the story.
What is a bit interesting to me - I couldn't stand hairstyle choices for "the present time" there. Usually I don't even comment on such things as hair and make-up but this time it (hairdo) was just so into my face and so not good looking/appealing that I noticed.
Anyways, it's not a bad one, it had some good punch lines here and there but overall I left the theater with a bit of a letdown feeling.
Rating: ★★★
