The Power Of The Dog

Liam Hall

Liam Hall

Veteran
As we approach awards season I'm told The Power Of The Dog looks set to rake in the gongs so I finally started to watch this slow burn study of toxic masculinity having avoided it until now on the basis it looked like a movie that thinks it is clever but is probably adolescent level navel gazing and moralising.

An hour and a half into this film, I fear I was right.

Maybe it's the pandemic, maybe it's Brexit, Afghanistan, the failing economy or the impending doom faced by our planet but this movie is more irritating than being dropped in a pile of fire ants.

Lord above; The Power of Couldn't Care Less.

35 minutes still to go. Sheesh.

And those hats...
 
I didn't care for the movie much either. But not as strongly disagreeable as it seems it was for you.:cheesy: Certainly not "adolescent level navel gazing and moralising".
BUT - I don't believe we're the right or target audience for it. Funny to me you kept going for 90 minutes if you disliked it so much.
 
I made it to the end. I felt it was the right thing to do LOL.

I genuinely watched it wondering if I wasn't getting it, then it ended and it turned out I did get it and it wasn't worth getting. My wife hated it as much as I did. Stunning photography though.
 
Hated this film. Bailed out after 30 minutes and read the Wikipedia plot summary instead, which made me really happy I hadn't wasted any more time on this turd.
 
Bless you, Liam for this review - I was thinking of writing something up myself, but I was tired of writing negative reviews, so I’m very glad you stepped up!

Sadly, I did not last more than 30 minutes with this dog. It used to be that I’d stick out with movies I hated to the end, but my new rule the past couple of years is to be guilt free when stopping at any point, because I’ve noticed that not a single movie that was bad ever turns out to be good. Like I frequently say, if a chef serves you up a sh|t sandwich, it’s always a lie if he says “but it gets really good if you eat all of it”. A film is bad because of bad judgment by the creators, so if you see it’s bad in the first whatever number of minutes, it’s not likely that suddenly judgment becomes good - it’s the canary in the coal mine - it’s the same gang that made the bad part that makes the rest.

I personally have no use for Jane Campion based on the movie I reviewd here “In The Cut” where she’s the writer-director. Someone who has so little understanding of dramatic structure and camera work as to deliver garbage like In The Cut is not someone whose films I’m ever going to have any use for.

I watched this dog with my wife only because of a rave review by a friend who usually is pretty reliable. Like I said, we didn’t last past 30 minutes (my wife bailed after 15). And because of the pacing, every minute felt like an hour. Jane Campion - as unfortunately is the case with the majority of directors - does not comprehend that the length of a scene must be matched to the level of engagement and dramatic content. Merely filming pretty pictures is running footage, not making a movie. It was excruciatingly boring and I didn’t care a lick about any of the characters or developments.

This is the last Campion movie I’ll be rick-rolled into watching.
 
Just for any DVXuser's out there who might stumble upon this thread and forgo watching the movie...
Context might be key here. The main theme or exploration of Campion's film - at least in my mind - is toxic masculinity. Again, I didn't care for it all that much - but it's worth noting the Academy surely did - as Liam mentions 12 nominations. Never been a huge fan of Kirsten Dunce - but really enjoyed her performance here.
 
Old Corpse - I remember suggesting you see the piano when you wrote your in the cut review. I'm assuming you haven't nor does it sound like you will now. And that's too bad.
 
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