Robert Brown

This torturous movie meanders with no aim in sight for over two hours to reach an unsatisfying and predictable end. I have never been so baffled by reviews in my life. Too see so many people praising the film for it's tension confused me to no end as the person sitting next to me fell asleep by 4 in the afternoon and frankly I felt the urge to join him. The only tension I felt was a headache from the intentionally dreadful sound desgin. Avoid this film unless you are a masochist in which case you have found your new favourite.

The plot was very intriguing. Howard had no clear objective (There was a broad goal for Howard which was to get money, but no specific conflict) until around halfway through the movie it seemed like but I did not feel like that was a problem. It allowed me to take in everything that was happening in the movie and not focus on how Howard would achieve his goal. I became very invested in Howard's success and character early in the movie. I really wanted him to succeed, so when we found out that Otto cancelled the bet at the beginning of the movie, I felt bad for Howard. I was anxious throughout a good portion of the movie. The chaotic nature of the movie and the unsettlingly loud voices of the characters immersed me in the movie. It made parts of the movie great but I thought it was too much at times. There was a segment in the middle of the film where I lost a little bit of interest because of this. I felt like it was obnoxious at points. The score for the movie was amazing. The music did a wonderful job of setting the tone for each scene and creating a very engaging movie. The cinematography was also really good. The close ups of characters guided the audience to imagine what each character was thinking at the time. The best scene of the movie was also the most shocking and disturbing. The very last scene of the movie was an incredibly bold choice by the Safdie brothers. Howard's death was so unexpected and brutal. My jaw dropped when Otto's heavy man shot Howard in the face with absolutely no hesitation. I was in shock for a good while after the movie ended. The directors did not hold back when creating this scene. The scene was not especially gory but it was merciless and so realistic that it made the audience react with awe. Lastly, Sandlers character was extremely well created. He was in constant need of being in control and proving other people right. He did not seem to evolve throughout the film but got what was coming to him in the end. His character was especially shown when he stopped at his apartment where he had kicked out the woman he was having an affair with. Howard told his wife that he was going to grab something, which he did not do; he merely walked in and made sure she wasn't there. Howard cared so much about being in control that he exposed his son to the truth of his relationship with his son's Mom.