Memo to Steven Soderbergh: Boring is boring, and ugly is ugly.
FULL FRONTAL, the self-indulgent new picture by Oscar winning director
Steven Soderbergh (TRAFFIC), features actors awkwardly delivering
incredibly boring lines in a failed attempt at realism. It is one
of the worst movies of the year.
The story uses the old movie within a movie setup. Much of the movie
is shot with an overexposed, extremely grainy, unfocused, shaky and
indecipherable look that will remind you of some of your embarrassing
vacation videos that you plan on taping over as soon as you can.
Although the ugly cinematography was clearly designed to give the
movie a heightened sense of realism, what it gives you instead is
a headache, since its low quality images cause you to squint so often.
If Soderbergh wanted to make a vanity piece with all of his friends
in it, he didn't have to release it to theaters, where, I suspect,
it will incur the wrath of many viewers. The large number who walk
out will be just as enraged as those who waste their time by staying.
The confusing story features a large number of characters, none of
whom we really get to know. The saving grace is that the movie offers
us no reason to care about any of these remarkably shallow people.
The large and accomplished cast, including Julia Roberts, Blair Underwood,
David Hyde Pierce, Catherine Keener, Mary McCormack and David Duchovny,
is completely wasted.
"I just want this day to be over!" Lee (Catherine Keener) complains
to her to husband Carl (David Hyde Pierce). I felt the same way about
the film itself. I couldn't wait for the picture to end. Watching it was painful.
FULL FRONTAL runs 1:47. It is rated R for "language and some sexual
content" and would be acceptable for teenagers.
I would include my son, Jeffrey's, comments here, except that he and
my wife wisely walked out.
Copyright © 2002 Steve Rhodes
out of 4
