Jane Got a Gun. My review…

 
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Since Dazza recently gave his opinion of the movie, and taking advantage of the fact that the film was finally released this weekend in my country, I will dare to give my humble opinion about the film 🙂

The truth is that it is easy to criticize this film: it has a slow pace, almost no action in ninety percent of the movie, and the story is nothing new (the umpteenth western siege, where the protagonists expect the arrival of the ” bad guys “to massacre them) ….

… But nevertheless, it has entertained me. It is not a perfect film, far from it. The story lacks verve, and numerous production problems are noticed, especially in the inclusion of some flashbacks … and the lack of thrust villain (embodied however with conviction by Ewan McGregor). Clearly they had to wring the brain so that the absence is not noticed (the actor could not join the shooting until the very end of it); although Gavin O’Connor takes some pretty good decisions to hide this fact (his appearances in flashbacks are quite good, and the fact resolve the final siege from the point of view of Jane, Dan and Bill, inside the house it is very smart … but unfortunately that does lose showmanship to the scene.

Actually, this movie is an intimate drama, wrapped in the makings of a western. A drama about loss, the value of the strength and the courage to stand up to adversity. Jane’s character is a woman dragged by the events of her life, who has the chance to finally stand up and face everything to protect her family. A woman who believed losing the man she loves, found another honest man who had the courage to protect her, and that after years of false comfort, is doomed to face the demons of her past …. all with the help of the man who loved, lost and broken by war, and finally will have the opportunity to redeem himself next to her.

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Dazza Reviews JGAG

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As you know, I’ve just arrived back in Berlin, and during the mind-numbing flight over I had the opportunity to finally catch Jane Got A Gun. Expectations were low. The troubled production didn’t phase me too much, as sometimes magic can be found by flying by the seat of your pants, but the shrugging reviews certainly didn’t have me expecting the next Heat.

On the positive side, it’s pretty entertaining and I quite enjoyed seeing Natalie play something of a bad ass. There’s still plenty of desperation in the performance, like one of the better flashback scenes, but Jane is one tough cookie.

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KoC Tidbits

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  Knight of Cups is out in the world, no doubt confounding most audiences, but those who can sync with Malick's vision are really responding well as you'll see from…

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More Knights

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Looks like it’s going to be a big week for Knight of Cups news, leading up to the (tiny) opening on Friday. It has been a loooong wait to see the film and having seen it last year, it is probably not going to be worth the wait unless you are one of the few in-tune with the very personal and unique presentation that Malick is working with.

– Let’s start with a new video interview from One Big Soul.

– Next up is a new teaser trailer that is really great. The music and the visuals go together beautifully.

– Then we have a couple positive reviews.

The Village Voice calls it sumptuous.

You don’t reason your way through a film like this; you let it wash over you, pull you this way and that.

Or you reject it. Many will run screaming from Knight of Cups, even as some of us are enraptured. At times, Malick almost seems to welcome this polarized response.

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Tidbits

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  We're back with some more mini Natalie news items. Dig in! - Let's kick off with the box office and despite being one of the more robust holds during…

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Rachel Reviews JGAG

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I saw Jane Got a Gun this evening. Dazza told me to enjoy the film and asked me to write a review. I responded with “I’ll try,” and I did. I tried to care about the story. I tried to care about the characters. But I just couldn’t. I feel like the last couple of my reviews of Natalie’s films can be summed up as “Well, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good, either,” and Jane Got a Gun is no exception.

Disclaimer: There aren’t any spoilers that you didn’t already see in the trailers. I am not Dazza or Andreas; writing is not my forte. You’ve been warned.

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JGAG Tidbits

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  There is tons of Jane Got A Gun related news, which we'll be trying to catch up with for days, so here is another collection of news items. -…

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JGAG Tidbits

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Jane Got A Gun week continues and we’ve got lots of related updates.

– The film is opening on 550 screens this weekend, which is one of those mid-sized releases that isn’t a small platform release where they hope to build and certainly isn’t a wide release. The Weinstein’s aren’t in a good place financially, which could account for not only that but why there has been little to no marketing push. Perhaps a fitting release for a film that has had one of the most troubled releases in years. Thanks to Belerofonte.

– A couple reviews have landed with The Hollywood Reporter giving a mixed review.

Portman certainly commits herself fully to the role, and one can imagine how much the double-duty of starring in and presiding over such a troubled project was no simple turkey shoot. Still, at times, the actress seems almost too graceful to be playing a woman in Jane’s predicament, especially one living under harsh conditions and suffering years of strife across the continent.

The New Yorker is more mixed negative and touches on something that has bothered me in the trailers.

Can a face as famously beautiful as Portman’s ever show the weathering of such peril, or the scars of a hardscrabble life? Well, yes. It certainly did in “Cold Mountain,” where she played a lonely widow in a secluded shack, and which she stole in a few brief scenes—shooting down a fleeing soldier, and weeping at the touch of a hand. Somehow, “Jane Got a Gun” fails to be scuffed by that sense of desperation.

– This is a really nice video interview with Natalie and Joel Edgerton, in which they discuss working on Star Wars together, the troubles on set and Natalie ends by talking about the wage disparity between men and women.


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