I use to be disappointed in kids who cheated when I was a teacher, but downright angry when a super smart kid would cheat.
That’s why The Sunlit Night made me slightly mad. It’s probably a screenwriter issue, which is a shame in this instance, Rebecca Dinnerstein Knight wrote the book from which the movie is based AND the screenplay. So come on girlfriend, why’d you cheat?
What I mean is why be so damn overt with the sexual stuff….like Jenny Slate’s mother picking a leech (which wasn’t a leech but a worm) out of her bottom….or Jenny posing in underwear (when she’s the artist). Sexuality is fine and even fun to watch when it’s not random and super conspicuous.
Mind you, I may still have Little Weirds (Jenny Slate’s recent book which was equal parts moving and Eat Pray Love maddening at the end book) taint on me.
So Miley, what’s good? Ok, there were some beautiful aspects to the movie. First and foremost the cinematography of Norway, bravo to director David Wnendt and cinematographer Martin Ahlgren. Second, I did enjoy Jenny Slate’s character’s allusions to resemblances of people with historical paintings, but Rebecca, why not start that fun narration from the get go, instead of the unevenly paced family melodrama you began with?
I love the artist in residence aspect of the film and thought the head artist’s (Fridtjov Saheim) performance was very realistic. I also appreciated the mourning man’s (Alex Sharp) portrayal as important and raw. As much as I adore Zack Galifinakis, his Viking Tourist Attraction seemed eerily Baskets-like, and the comedic dryness seemed off balance in this story.
To be fair, translating novels to screen is tough business. I just feel like under more objective hands, this could have been a great film, when in the end, it was just mediocre.
