Reviews

This is how "diversity" should be. You hire the best person for the job. Unless the character demands it, whether you're white, black or whatever doesn't matter. What matters is the work.

Pratt was already well-known and Kitsch also, but they gave their best performances in this. I assumed Constance Wu's not that good of an actor since I only knew she was in Crazy Rich Asians, a rom-com, but boy she proved me wrong. I also never heard of JD Pardo before, but this made me check his works. In short, really, really good execution from probably all the parties involved (actors, directors, production, etc.)

Story is nothing new. But its execution is above and beyond the competition it's as if you're not watching something that's been repeated a thousand times. Honestly, I'm genuinely impressed by how they're able to tell the same story and make it not boring. I bet a lot of work went into changing the little nuances to achieve this. The way they introduce doubt to the story when they want the audience to doubt who to trust for example, and the way they dispel that doubt when they want the audience to get on board. It's just masterful.

In a sea of shows that value messaging over just raw filmmaking quality, this definitely stands out.

Can't wait for season 2..

If I read the script I probably would've rated this movie a 4 or a 5 based on my imagination on how the movie would go. But the way they executed it made it so much better than it has business being.

I think it's Houston and Costner's performance. They don't overdo it like most romance stories do. So I was fooled into believing that the story would match their performances. "It can't be corny. They play it straight." Yet it was.

And what stuck to my mind most wasn't how corny the story was, but that the romance was pretty good. That's how good they made a movie with a 5/10 corny script. Still a 7 cos I can't defend an 8 with this story, but they really made the most out of it.

It also reminds me of a time when movies were really made for theaters and was some sort of a spectacle. Just like in amusement parks you know what's coming but still enjoy the ride, I could see some moments in the film coming with how predictable it was yet still enjoy it. People put too much emphasis on not being predictable nowadays, when most of the time, that's not the point.

Feel-good movie with reality TV as its backdrop/setting, released back when reality TV was still fresh. Structured like a rom-com and taking a similar tone, it doesn't take itself too seriously. It deals with some real issues of reality TV, but it doesn't go too deep and instead focuses on the main character instead of the issues.

Matthew McConaughey's performance is the lynchpin that holds this whole movie together. Woody Harrelson's performance is as good but he doesn't show up as much.

Overall a pretty good movie if you want to just turn off your brain a while and play this on the background while you relax on the sofa. It doesn't demand your attention that much and you don't really need to remember/understand everything to still enjoy it.

7/10

Lead actor learns to act 20 minutes into the movie, resulting in a drastic decrease in amount of cringe released on-screen. Characters and story are believable and interesting enough to make you care. The bad guys actually have a legit motive for doing what they do instead of just evil, with capital E, where you don't need to explain anything, they're just the bad guys. All of these leads to massive increase in my enjoyment of the movie.

Watching the first movie feels like a chore, but watching this actually made me want to watch the third movie. Definitely something I would recommend to friends when they want something you don't have to follow 100% to still enjoy.

Hero saves the day, young adult male edition. Believability low. Cringe moments aplenty. Overacting not scarce. Hero comes and thinks up obvious solution that somehow evades remaining characters' mind the whole time they were there.

Some movies excel at amazing you in how great the hero is for doing/coming up with something. This one makes mindless supporting characters just so you can have your hero look smart in comparison. I don't remember old movies like "Back to the Future" or "Last Action Hero" being this bad in this department despite being made over 2 decades ago and despite being marketed towards the same audience, so forgive me if I don't accept the "but it's for kids/teenagers" excuse.

Characters aren't interesting enough to pull you into the story, and story isn't interesting enough (except the ending) to make you care about the characters. Scodelario and Brodie-Sangster are shining lights in an otherwise bleak cast that can't wait to take their turn in overacting. These are young actors that don't have a lot of experience, so I don't think they're the ones to blame. If anything it probably says more about the direction than the actors.

Good enough to want to read the book. Not good enough to recommend to a friend who just wants entertainment for 2 hours.

I haven't read the book or any other Orson Scott Card works.

The movie doesn't waste time in pulling you into the story, but even then it's obvious 2 hours isn't enough to give the story justice. Many subplots/relationships in the story aren't given enough exposure/time to give emotional effect. This makes significant parts of the movie feel weird/rushed. Many questions are unanswered and we're left to assume/suspend our disbelief ourselves to move the story forward. The main plotline is executed well though and the questions/holes in the story apply more to the subplots instead of the main plot, so they did a pretty good job.

Asa Butterfield did a very good job as Ender. I hope he doesn't become another casualty of fame because he has a bright future as an actor if he keeps performing like this. Ford, Davis, and Kingsley all also gave good performances. There are some bad performances from the other casts, but nothing so significant they give a lasting bad taste.

It's not an A movie. At best it's a B movie. (I wouldn't have felt I wasted my money if I paid to see it in a theatre, but there are better movies.) Bale and McConaughey carry most of the movie. I can easily imagine this being a D if their roles were played by lesser actors.

I'm not sure that the fact those 2 actors are in the film improves it or makes it worse though. Maybe it would've been better if one was played by someone more unknown. As an audience, I felt I invested myself in two main characters instead of one. I felt the film lacks some focus because of this. But I can see it being boring too if one of them is too bland.

This title isn't high up in realism points, but which rom-com does anyway? The movie uses some stereotypes to drive a point home, and I believe they did it quite well.

If you can't get past "that's totally unrealistic", I don't recommend the movie. If you're like me though (willing to suspend my disbelief for fun/see the point before judging it), my guess is there's a high chance you'll enjoy it. Not up there with the greats but quite a good watch when you're bored.