THE GOOD - To me this movie was mainly about how WW2 and how the actions of others (hate) can literally have lifelong consequences on an individual's life. Well that's the meat of the story when I think about it. The story takes place in the present day as well as the past and from the offset we know the two worlds of the main character and the past have to connect in some way. Those who enjoy nonlinear stories where they have to connect all the dots at the end of a movie will enjoy this one. The main character's agenda is to find out about Sarah's (and others) fate in a WW2 occupied France. We learn about Sarah's fate through the past scenes and this is where the movie excels. However, the present day scenes are where the movie is a bit of a miss. More of that under The Bad but first to...
THE QUESTIONABLE - There's a small part in the movie where we journey to Brooklyn, NY. The borough is shown in a gritty light unlike other present day areas (Manhattan, Paris) in the film, which is shown spot clean. Okay, I am from this borough, kind of irks me when foreign films portray my area like that. Whatever, that's my personal bias and you can't really not like the film because of that but what is questionable to me is some of the production quality of the film. 10 million dollars to make this film as reported by IMDb. Just comparing this movie to TV shows which are produced by TV production companies for prime time TV, this production seemed a bit... Great in some spots but lacking in other areas when compared. That is questionable and most people won't care but if you are a techie movie watcher some areas of the film will stand out to you. But that brings us to...
THE BAD - Besides the main character's acting and a few seasoned actors in this piece, some of the acting just wasn't there. Not totally awful but not good either. Sorta like TV soap opera acting and you get the picture. Along with that, there is a horrible side plot that kills the movie. The main character's love life is brought into the story. Whether to keep her baby or not, "To be or not to be". Ugh! If done well, great! Done here, it is badly integrated into the story and does not hold any weight to the overall theme of this movie. It actually subtracts from the movie. The movie tried to connect the past to the present, with the two parallel stories but fails to do it in a memorable way.
WHY... do I give this movie a 7/10 (IMDb style) or a regular/low 3 out of 4 stars? The past scenes, finding out about Sarah's story and the quality of the theme far outweigh the bad subplot. If you ask me, you won't be disappointed if you watch this movie; I think you will find it very enjoyable and somewhere in line with this and your own personal review of "Sarah's Key".
THE QUESTIONABLE - There's a small part in the movie where we journey to Brooklyn, NY. The borough is shown in a gritty light unlike other present day areas (Manhattan, Paris) in the film, which is shown spot clean. Okay, I am from this borough, kind of irks me when foreign films portray my area like that. Whatever, that's my personal bias and you can't really not like the film because of that but what is questionable to me is some of the production quality of the film. 10 million dollars to make this film as reported by IMDb. Just comparing this movie to TV shows which are produced by TV production companies for prime time TV, this production seemed a bit... Great in some spots but lacking in other areas when compared. That is questionable and most people won't care but if you are a techie movie watcher some areas of the film will stand out to you. But that brings us to...
THE BAD - Besides the main character's acting and a few seasoned actors in this piece, some of the acting just wasn't there. Not totally awful but not good either. Sorta like TV soap opera acting and you get the picture. Along with that, there is a horrible side plot that kills the movie. The main character's love life is brought into the story. Whether to keep her baby or not, "To be or not to be". Ugh! If done well, great! Done here, it is badly integrated into the story and does not hold any weight to the overall theme of this movie. It actually subtracts from the movie. The movie tried to connect the past to the present, with the two parallel stories but fails to do it in a memorable way.
WHY... do I give this movie a 7/10 (IMDb style) or a regular/low 3 out of 4 stars? The past scenes, finding out about Sarah's story and the quality of the theme far outweigh the bad subplot. If you ask me, you won't be disappointed if you watch this movie; I think you will find it very enjoyable and somewhere in line with this and your own personal review of "Sarah's Key".
