Solaris

Zooropa · 11-29-2002, 09:19 PM

Wow. I was just let down big time by one of my favorite directors. When the credits rolled I was absolutely floored. How could this happen? Steven Soderbergh knows how to make good films. He made "Traffic" and "Ocean's Eleven" for crying out loud!

"Solaris" was absolutely horrible; so horrible that I wouldn't be surprised if it hurt Soderbergh's career. First off, the movie went nowhere. It was very poorly directed, and characters were just thrown at me and I'm expected to care about them with zero buildup or development. Secondly, there are two kinds of confusement when it comes to films: intriguing confusement and dumb confusement. "Solaris" was dumb confusement. It was absolutely ridiculous. During 75% of the film I just sat there pretending/wishing that this wasn't happening.

I'll give Soderbergh credit for taking a risk. We need more ballsy directors like him. Too bad it was a risk that didn't work on any level. "Solaris" is quite a failure and Soderbergh needs to rebound big time with whatever his next film is. Avoid this one, guys.

.torrin. · 11-29-2002, 10:18 PM

wow, i was looking forward to this movie. I don't think i'll be seeing it now, probalby will wait until it coems out on video. Don't want to waste $7 on a movie i probably wouldn't like seeing as myself and andy tend to enjoy the same movies

***Art*** · 11-29-2002, 10:51 PM

Poo! Man, Andy, I wish I didn't trust your opinion.

**Sean** · 11-29-2002, 10:58 PM

My spoilers only give away the most basic plot points. If you know anything about the plot, you know my spoilers. So they dont' really spoil.

I didn't know too much about this film going in. I knew the director, the star, it was a remake and it was set in space. And I knew I'd get to see Clooney's bottom. I really wanted to like. I wanted to real bad. I was waiting for a big pay off or something. I didn't get anything like that. *SPOILER* I actually was sitting there through the movie thinking about how many movies are based on the idea of a guys wife just died and he's having trouble dealing with it. The movie acted like it was a very deep and important film that had some deep hidden truths in it. None of this was true however. *SPOILER* All it was a fairly typical plot about a space station gone crazy where people keep dying. Like Zooropa said, it didn't really work on any levels.

What is said was, before I left to go see the movie my mom asked me to tell if it was any good. I immediately replied, "Its a Steven Soderbough film, it has to be good." Well turns out I was wrong.

Zooropa · 12-01-2002, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by AtlasShrugs
"Its a Steven Soderbough film, it has to be good."

I hope that one day that statement can be said again. Soderbergh is going to have to deliver something amazing in order to get my trust back. In my mind, he may no longer be in the same league as today's directors such as PT Anderson, Fincher, M. Night Shyamalan, and Wes Anderson. Perhaps I'm jumping to conclusions, but we'll see.

Zooropa · 12-03-2002, 01:20 PM

My formal review of "Solaris" is now up on Out Of The Void for those interested.

***Art*** · 12-04-2002, 02:28 AM

The SF Chronical reviewers hated it. *sigh* they suck though. I've only seen like, two positive reviews by them.

Dr. Doom · 12-04-2002, 03:40 AM

Andy, once again we agree! this movie was piss poor, in my opinion, for all the reasons you gave. however, i did think that Clooney did a really good job with what he had to work with.

Zooropa · 12-04-2002, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Euchre0
however, i did think that Clooney did a really good job with what he had to work with.

I agree there. Clooney was good, really good in particularly one scene which

*SPOILER*

he left his wife. Good acting there. His performance was the best thing about the movie.