SamDBL wrote:The movie was vaguely ok. As usual, it suffered a bit because the allegories were so over-the-top and obvious. Do people think this stuff is clever, or just that it's somehow compelling? The characters, comedy and acting totally saved it from being abysmal. Leonardo DiCaprio is one of those people I really *want* to not like. But damned if he doesn't make every single role he plays awesome. Like, without fail. He has to be one of the greatest movie actors of the last 50 years.
He deserves some sort of honor/award for that performance and totally playing against type (and he didn't even want to do it initially according to an interview with Meryl Streep and Jonah Hill we watched recently). Everyone else was good, too. I don't know if I'd rate him quite so highly overall (though I've always liked him), but even going back to What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, he always brings it in his performances. I haven''t seen some of the movies he's made with Martin Scorcese in more recent years, but want to.
I'm also starting to think Jonah Hill has been underrated by many critics, particularly as an improviser.