Funny Games
Starring: Naomi Watts, Michael Pitt, Tim Roth, Brady Corbet, Devon Gearhart
The talented cast provide us with performances that are both accomplished and unsettling. The story itself is surprising with it’s subtle introduction to the horror that will soon unfold. And, I prepare myself for a journey into the mind of two serial killers that never begins. Yes, there is a glimpse of “A day in the life of..” But, that glimpse is far too small and narrow. It lacks any insight into the development of the two disturbed boys who would take such a path. Lacking any true insight, we are left with nothing but empty images of gratuitous brutality and gore. Even if that gore is just to the left of center stage.
I’d love to go on about nihilist ideas and philosophies. Or, maybe it’s a cautionary tale teaching us the dangers of overconsumption of a diet in gratuitous violence? But, sadly, that gives the film more credit than it deserves. The lack of meaningful dialogue proves this to be true. How can you project relevance to a character who says nothing of importance and claim that it implies something deeper in meaning or carries a hidden message?
