5 Ridiculous Scenes in Otherwise Good Movies of 2010
Looks like we'll be treated to 10 Best Picture nominees worth the recognition this year. (Take that, 2009, The Blind Side, and Up in the Air!) But now that 2010 is almost kaput, it's high-time for a reality check of the year's best films -- an unflinching glimpse back at the times when even quality cinema stumbled in its path to greatness. Here, we explore five great films with five really ridiculous (and questionably forgivable) scenes.
Black Swan: Piece of Cake
Barbara Hershey's feverish performance as Natalie Portman's mother in Black Swan is not without its defenders, but her asthmatic delivery was often part of what made Darren Aronofsky's cygnus opus a little contrived. When Hershey offers Portman a congratulatory cake just before threatening to throw it away in a Mommie Dearest huff, we fled Tchaikovsky territory and entered a Jessie Spano caffeine-pill spiral. The zeal of Black Swan may beget intrigue, but it can also compel you to caw at the screen, "You're no fun-fetti, Natalie!" In Hershey's defense, she was just so excited. So excited! And so. Scared.
The Kids are All Right: Leaving a Mark
The Kids are All Right does a fine job of shading Annette Bening and Julianne Moore's characters with insecurities, compulsions, and redeeming sensitivities, but Mark Ruffalo's character Paul, the biological father of their children, is unceremoniously ejected from the movie in its final act. Sure, Paul disrupts their marriage and yes, he tactlessly tries to apologize by ringing the family's doorbell at dinnertime, but not a thing about him is patently detestable or, more importantly, dismissible. Director Lisa Cholodenko said there was an original, more milquetoast ending where Paul's character enjoyed some resolve, but I'd have taken a simple solution over the alternative we received, which was a tepid non-solution.
The Social Network: You Have One New Notification -- There's a Fire Behind You
Before Eduardo Severin's (Andrew Garfield) fate is sealed in The Social Network, a few lesser sideplots go awry for the foolish signee -- namely, his as-of-this-second-crazy girlfriend Christy, who believes Eduardo is lying about sleeping around, sets fire to a scarf he buys for her. For such a ridiculous moment, it's almost hard to remember since it has very little to do with the arc of the movie. And yet, that's what makes it ridiculous: It's a non-sequitur in a tightly arranged script about (usually) believable characters.
Inception: Kick-Off
The layers of dreams, awareness, sleep, and scattered histories that make Inception so convoluted and engrossing are thought-provoking at best and way too literal at worst. One of the film's main conceits, "kicks," or jolts that help awaken unknowing dreamers, is just too simplistic for three-hour psychological warfare. When Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is forced to ford a dreamscape in freefall, we watch him set up a "kick" by tying together a number of sleepers who are suspended in mid-air. Visually it's striking, but it packs the emotional wallop of a cliched Escher-print t-shirt.
Somewhere: Johnny B. Gone
Sofia Coppola's unassuming fourth film benefits from her subtle dialogue and fantastic performances, but its closing metaphor is as tiresome as they come: Movie star Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) feels worthless without his daughter in his everyday life, so we watch as he drives down a Los Angeles freeway, leaves his speedster on the roadside, and continues to walk on foot. Yes, he's symbolically giving up Hollywood artificiality, and he's no longer driving in circles as he was in the first scene -- but where is he going? Is he literally walking somewhere? Why is he abandoning his vehicle? How is strutting off into a sunset a metaphor for accepting the responsibility of fathering his child? For a film steeped in realism, Somewhere's sudden detour into trite "new beginnings" feels like throwaway closure.
Subscribe to the new Movieline on YouTube
Comments
Much more ridiculous from "Black Swan" is every time Vincent Cassel had to deliver some version of "I don't feel the passion . . . I know you can play the white swan . . ." Actually, it was pretty much all the character ever did. Maybe it can become a drinking game!!!
Also ridic in Black Swan -- any scene with Winona Ryder. Easily 2010's Best Comedic performance by a sometime actress!
Once she started stabbing herself in the face, I knew that movie understood me.
Since Sofia has admitted who Johnny Marco and his car are loosely based on maybe the end of "Somewhere" is actually the beginning of "Nicolas Cage losing his Sh*t"?
Hey! "Up in the Air" an undeserving nominee?? Try "District 9" and "Precious".
I thought Up In The Air was the most overrated film last year
District 9 was terrible and one of the most overrated films ever. The whole premise was ridiculous; like South Africa would have been allowed to keep the spaceship and the aliens would have just been settled there? No way, stupid, stupid plot.
The correct answer Remy, Garry, and JB are all missing is "The Blind Side"
I had no problem with that Inception scene. And Eduardo's girlfriend in real life did become psycho-stalkerish, though I could see how you'd feel that the scene felt out of place, as we stayed with the business and Eduardo's relationship was kept in the background, rarely referred to.
That scene in Black Swan was not ridiculous. If you removed it, the mother character would just appear over-protective throughout the film. The psychological torment in that scene establishes the mother as slightly evil, and helps to explain some of Mina's mental problems that appear later.
Sorry but the scene you criticize in Inception makes you look like an idiot.
And for the District 9 haters, f*$&ing morons!!!!
Right on FU!
District 9 actually had something to offer besides rather than super effects and a trite overused plot (ala Avatar). SFX should support a story, not be the reason for it. I also think ppl don't like the downbeat ending. Inception is a brilliant film, made by a director that I'm starting to appreciate more with every film he makes. Maybe 'the Kick' is simplistic, but it's better than contriving some stupid artifice for the sake of an over-the-top action fest.
Btw Inception also proves that "real" effects trump CGI 10 to 1!
If you pay attention closely, Black Swan is actually a dark comedy. So, yes, Winona Ryder was funny, as she was meant to be.
Your remarks on Coppola's Somewhere lead me to believe we didn't see the same film. Because it seems you disliked the final sequence of a movie that didn't conform to your expectations of a deserved coda to a gracefully underwhelming narrative. There's a serious logical disconnect in your criticism. You present your OWN reading of the film's ending with a yawning assertion of critical obviousness and then subsequently undermine the very metaphor YOU supplied in the first place. Observe:
"Movie star Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) feels worthless without his daughter in his everyday life"
"How is strutting off into a sunset a metaphor for accepting the responsibility of fathering his child?"
While I agree with the metaphor (and its modest lack of subtlety) I disagree with your projected criticism. It seems more like you're struggling with the way YOU thought the character should find redemption or come to terms with his situation. The marvel of Somewhere is that there is slim to no overt subtext provided. Regardless of the accuracy of your reading, for you to project such an interpretation on the conclusion reveals you saw what you wanted to and not what truly was.