The Movie: Colossal
The Director: Nacho Vigalondo
The Cast: Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis, Austin Stowell, Tim Blake Nelson, Dan Stevens
The Story: A woman discovers that severe catastrophic events are somehow connected to the mental breakdown from which she's suffering.
The Review:
The name of the man who wrote and directed this movie is Nacho. How cool is that? Not only does he have one of the best names ever, he has a movie that is unique, creative, twisted, off the wall, genius, and thought provoking all at the same time. It is the type of indie style production you would normally only see making the rounds at film festivals but not mainstream enough to get picked up by a major studio. Seriously, I really don't now how this film got made, but I am so glad it did because it is everything you want a movie to be and it is everything you never thought a movie could be.
Am I making too much of a big deal out of this quirky little film? Maybe, but at the same time, it is pure genius and such an unexpected treat, I can't help but gush over how cool it is. It starts out looking like it could be a heavy relationship drama, but then it veers off into romantic comedy territory, magically transforms itself into a giant monster fantasy film, wallows into the depths of alcoholism and domestic violence, and then wraps it all up with a wink, a smile, and a final moment that puts the most perfect period on a proverbial sentence you will ever see.
Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis, and Dan Stevens are all in this movie. How cool is that? Again, to see this type of film populated with some of Hollywood's top talent is really surprising and totally refreshing. Seriously, this is some of the best work you will ever see from Hathaway and I can't even begin to describe why, there's just so much going on (see previous paragraph) and she's right at the center of every insane moment. For a good portion of the movie, Sudeikis is exactly who we all know him to be, the no nonsense guy who happens to also be really funny although, by the end of the film, you will look at him in a completely new and disturbingly evil way.
The Verdict:
Colossal is the type of movie that defies categorization as it is a little bit of everything and does it all very, very well. There are so many metaphors at play within the intricately layered story that you may need to see it more than once to get fully immersed in the story that Mr. Vigalondo is trying to tell. On the surface, the movie is funny, it is thrilling, and it is intense. For a lot of people that will be enough, but it also manages to cover some really heavy subject matter (alcoholism, emotional abuse, entitlement) in ways that are endlessly inventive while also being unexpectedly honest and affecting.
If this is the future of film making then please sign me up. This might just be the best movie I have seen this year.
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