Thought Chasm

Bill Murray is hilarious, but in this one he’s probably the most subtle i’ve seen him. the movie itself is low on funny. his dull, emotionless face is fairly constant throughout. it’s a pretty straightforward if implausible story that drives itself as he drives his taurus. there’s even a little suspense as you wonder if he’ll find his kid at each stop.

there’s a lot of driving shots in this one, but not the normal center of the passenger seat or front of the car angles. they actually have a view from the driver’s seat so it was at least a little out of the ordinary. Murray nails down his part better than lost in translation (mostly because he has a higher quality film to carry him), but it’s a similar role. if you liked that one you’ll enjoy this one in some ways.

i like the film because of how dry and sensible it is. the story is slow, but consistent in it’s momentum. it all leads up to a very small, but satisfying climax.

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the lady is tweaked. she got all her money from silent film and then kidnaps a washed up writer, falls in love with him, and holds him close to captive. i love the shots of LA back in the late 40s/early 50s. the narrative that starts the film is dramatic. the film starts in the present and then drops back six months to describe how it happened. i’m a sucker for those movies.

ok mr. demille. i’m ready for my close-up.

i am big. it’s the pictures that got small.

man. the end is really tweaked. well done. the story of how a woman with too much money slowly drops into madness. and the story played out on film as if in a movie. the story wraps on itself and then ends with an exclamation.

i’m not usually as big a fan of older movies. harder to follow and less interesting and less realistic, but in this one i feel it worked on a lot of levels. i’d recommend it on a night chilling when you’re wide awake. too tired and you’ll cash in and too up for doing something and it’ll be too boring, but an amazing film.

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