Look, let's be honest here: this is a film that most people are going to hate. But if you're in the small group that like it, you're going to love it. It is NOT, contrary to what some reviewers are saying, a, "meh, average" film.
This is emphatically not a genre film --- you don't know what to expect, and you can't judge it by genre conventions. In particular, give it about 20 minutes to set the mood and see if you like that.
To the extent that it is any genre, it's dark/absurdist comedy. Some funny things happen, some completely unexpected and ridiculous things happen. But it's the comedy of ridiculousness, not on-going laugh-out-loud comedy.
It's also not IMHO, pace some other commenters, meant to be a deep meditation on the fragility of life, how one small thing can change lives; it's not Sliding Doors or Run Lola Run. It uses elements of that sort of setup, but for absurdist effect, not to ruminate on life.
Having said all that, I Ioved it. We have, in Rebecca the most desirable Manic Pixy Dreamgirl I've yet seen on screen. (Yes, yes, I know it's not PC to lust after MPGs, but, damn, done right they are so appealing; and boy was Rebecca done right.) We also have Marisa Tomei looking more lovely than in any other movie she's ever done. We have a constant stream of bizarre asides that do nothing to forward the plot but somehow just fit the movie (starting with the interaction with the taxi driver that opens the movie). What's not to love? Personally I wish more movies like this were made...
This is emphatically not a genre film --- you don't know what to expect, and you can't judge it by genre conventions. In particular, give it about 20 minutes to set the mood and see if you like that.
To the extent that it is any genre, it's dark/absurdist comedy. Some funny things happen, some completely unexpected and ridiculous things happen. But it's the comedy of ridiculousness, not on-going laugh-out-loud comedy.
It's also not IMHO, pace some other commenters, meant to be a deep meditation on the fragility of life, how one small thing can change lives; it's not Sliding Doors or Run Lola Run. It uses elements of that sort of setup, but for absurdist effect, not to ruminate on life.
Having said all that, I Ioved it. We have, in Rebecca the most desirable Manic Pixy Dreamgirl I've yet seen on screen. (Yes, yes, I know it's not PC to lust after MPGs, but, damn, done right they are so appealing; and boy was Rebecca done right.) We also have Marisa Tomei looking more lovely than in any other movie she's ever done. We have a constant stream of bizarre asides that do nothing to forward the plot but somehow just fit the movie (starting with the interaction with the taxi driver that opens the movie). What's not to love? Personally I wish more movies like this were made...