First Reformed

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Kylo R Apr 25, 2019 Revised: This was another movie I knew nothing about befoThis was another movie I knew nothing about before watching, had I known it was a Paul Schrader story I may have even given it a miss. Schrader's direction is slow but stylish or maybe he left a lot of the creative, visual decisions, to his director of photography: Alexander Dynan (Dog Eat Dog). But, good looking images and performances do not atone for a clumsily developed script. The first half seemed as if it could be moving into interesting territory - before it trailed off into the now predictable ground that's getting high ï¿ 1/2~praise' of late. Mainstream critics who regard themselves as better versed than the majority of movie viewers might think this is rather arty, and see themselves among the few smart enough to ï¿ 1/2~interpret' what is really going on. To these I could say, it's very easy to read into any story what you might want to see. Overall, this comes across as little more than ï¿ 1/2~topical' propaganda with a heavy handed climate change clichï¿ 1/2 (C) being substituted for any real character study or true depth. Take the character representing the energy companies executive - as expected; he's portrayed as the typical insensitive, aggressive bully - buying votes and support from everyone including the church officials that our local pastor (Ethan Hawk) works for. Hawk is very good in his role but his character's actions become quickly unhinged and downright foolish - right up to the somewhat laughable ending (some viewers asked, "What happened, did the film break"? This uninspired work uses scripture based interpretations to manipulate the un-informed, and hook the lazy viewer towards its skewed viewpoints. Could it be that Mr Schrader may need to consider an overdue retirement? ï¿ 1/2" his current writings seem all about recycling character elements of his earlier stories ï¿ 1/2" this one is simply ï¿ 1/2~Taxi Driver' in a church setting, and somewhat poorly transposed at that. The Academy and the likes of the Scorsese's of this ï¿ 1/2~darkness obsessed' movie world - may see greatness in these often shambolic works but from the looks of the ticket-buying public, they, are not buying these ideas ï¿ 1/2" so, according to box office returns many of these movies are actually more likely to end up lingering on the shelves. After jotting out these remarks, I curiously checked some other viewer reviews - finding these on IMDb and had to agree with many, including the following: Sandman, PotassiumMan, and Davegipson, etc, on the first and second pages of viewer reviews ... those, and many more are all worth a read to learn more. One of the better bits, the marvellous singing voice of Julie Murney performing the old Hoffman/Showalter: ï¿ 1/2~Leaning On The Everlasting Arms' ï¿ 1/2" though, it's almost wasted here, adds a haunting touch. On the technical side, why would any modern moviemaker want to go backwards? We progressed to the marvellous Wide Screen visual ratio of 16: 9 over a decade ago but Schrader chose to make this movie in 4: 3 (the old standard screen) For this films content, that decision comes across as being as foolish as elements of the story, disappointing indeed (I note some others have said they half expected to see Al Gore's name on the producer's credits, I understand what they mean!) See more

Hagrid S Apr 23, 2019 First Reformed is a immaculately constructed, terrifically acted and tense film on love, loss, environmental politics, religion and relationships. Paul Schrader delicately balances an abundance of conflicting themes in a brutally honest, compelling script and matches it with confident, solid direction in which we can really understand the characters emotions. Ethan Hawke in particular delivers a blockbuster performance as a man on the edge convincing himself he's not. Amanda Seyfried also gives a brilliant, nuanced and vunerable performance as a woman who just wants to be loved after her husbands passion morphs into obsession. The only thing that lets the film down is the few abstract moments Schrader tries to pull off, while interesting these didn't entirely work for me. First reformed is an important film on a number of social and human issues that though low-key feels very powerful. See more

Draco S Apr 20, 2019 amazing movie, speechless

Harry S Apr 13, 2019 a crescut in tensiune si anxietate pana la final.

Hermione M Apr 11, 2019 From the brilliant mind (Paul Schrader) that brought us "Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters" comes his newest work (which he directed and wrote the screenplay for) "First Reformed". I had seen this film hanging around for some time, yet knew very little about it. For those of you not aware, I try to avoid an over abundance of trailers because I feel they ruin the film going experience for me, more than helping it! If you want to go into this blind, please skip this paragraph. It doesn't contain any spoilers per se but does dive into what the film is about to an extent. ****A film that follows a Protestant minister who questions his life, faith, and place in the world. He serves as the pastor of a church that's about to celebrate it's 250th (Semiquincentennial, because all of you were wondering what the name for that was!) while being "partnered" with a larger "mega" church. I won't go any further but wanted to at least share the basics.**** One of my friends (Girorgio) was very high on this film, giving me a lot of hope for it. Thankfully I hadn't put this on such a high pedestal that I could still enjoy it for what it was. Had I gone into this with no reference point, I probably would've been bored slightly by the first third of the film. I know they were trying to explore the character study to show how his life was but I found that some scenes trailed too long on moments that didn't add to the film as a whole. Thankfully the last two acts went above and beyond and really expanded on what I thought would happen to give the film a turn that I could appreciate. It's funny because I know I've seen this story on more than one occasion, but this was done in such a way that it felt new. Having a look into Reverend Ernst Toller's (Ethan Hawke) life as an unbiased observer that saw him without rose colored glasses really gave me an appreciation for the character! Another home run for A24 (in my opinion), very seldom do they swing and miss! I could continue to go on, but I want each of you who haven't seen this to experience it for yourself. I've intentionally left any mention of one of the characters of the film out (if you haven't seen a trailer, and only seen posters, you likely won't even know about the character). That, right there is one of the reasons I love to go into a film blindly! A little deeper... (okay, so again, you can avoid this if you want to go in without any knowledge). ****I'm becoming a little crossed on films that just "end" this is at least the fifth example from this "season" that I can think of that left me wanting more. I understand the thought process and the fact that this is done to make you think about it. However, I also occasionally like a story to be wrapped up. Someone had posted that it's due to lazy writers, I don't know that I necessarily agree with that, but I wish that they would find a new way to do the same thing. I just personally don't like having so many storylines left up in the air.**** P.S. I would be curious if anyone has seen Schrader's loose remake 1982's "Cat People" (I loved the 1942 version!) See more

Luke L Mar 31, 2019 A very unsatisfying and superficial film. There is no depth to Rev. Toller's buy in to his suicidal "parishioner."

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First Reformed

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