Wait Will Smith is in this?

Hahahahahaha

WHAT

Has David given this an A yet?

LOL I KID I KID

He plays Satan

Winter's Tale is a strange, strange film. It is strange in the borderline unprecedented way which could, I believe, transform it into a midnight-movie favorite in the future even though it enters theatres disguised as a safe studio release intended to draw a mainstream Valentine's Day audience. I myself entered it expecting a period romantic drama with a side of the fantastic, the story of a thief whose courtship with a dying girl is upended by time travel, but this achieves full-blown lunacy. Is there a flying horse? Yes. Does Russell Crowe portray the volatile leader of a group of demons disguised as gangsters? Yes. Is there a scene where he becomes enraged at a restaurant, murders a waiter, and paints on the tablecloth with the man's blood? Of course.

In regard to the conventional question of quality, I find Winter's Tale hard to chart. There are undeniable virtues. The production itself, for one, is beautiful. From the early-20th-century-yet-otherworldly urban spaces to a Gothic, ice encrusted mansion in the countryside and onward, the environments themselves represent a chance for the costume- and set-design teams to explore their collective imagination without reservation and run wild, and so they do. Also, because the film found me in the right mood coupled with my firm belief Colin Farrell is both a top-flight actor and the definition of a charming and engaging film star, I found several of the beyond-earnest romantic notes sexy and touching, however overheated and absurd. On the flip side, there are numerous blunders and groans to be found throughout, including a dire habit of explaining again and again the system of destinies and miracles on which the "plot" (such as it is) is predicated. The very magic of a concept such as destiny demands not to be reduced to formula and procedure, a truth which eludes Winter's Tale.

In general, though, I sat in my seat in a unique type of awe, marveling at the beautiful, frustrating, highly ambitious, at times poignant, and, to be blunt, at times idiotic piece of cinema unfolding before me. This is a type of awe which transcends simple good-versus-bad categorization. Adore it. Deride it. Investigate it. Winter's Tale simply is.

C+

WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

I actually remember Smith being cast in this. I'm sure it's in a KJ thread. Yet completely forgot till I read it here.

He has two scenes (both with Russell Crowe) as Lucifer, who, in this film's world, is confined to a subterranean chamber in NYC. He wears a Jimi Hendrix shirt.

This review from efilmcritic.com reflects my general feelings about Winter's Tale, though I'm a little more head over heels than it's author.


28 out of 5.

What a mess. The movie tried so much and failed almost everywhere. It's just a badly directed movie which could have been so much more. There's potential there, the chemistry between Farrell and the girl was great but for every moment that works there are a few more that don't. Russell Crowe was shit and Smith's part was just a joke and completely destracted from the movie. I've read amazing things about the book and can't wait to read it but the movie was a big disapointment.

My basic thought after seeing this is that the parts were greater than the whole. I felt like this could have been a favorite of mine like August Rush or Stardust, Unfortunately, something about the structure of the story or maybe the religious undertones turned me off. It's not a bad movie, it just didn't come together the way it felt like it could have.

B.

The film really glosses over a lot of the big ideas it proposes and once the time shift occurs, the film just becomes more ridiculous. This is also one of Russell Crowe's worst performances. I would like to see more performances from Findlay though.

There is a great one, in which she begs her boyfriend to let her smell his butthole....