Day One Hundred and Forty-seven - Panic, "I'll never get tired of Neve... but there's just no empathy here."

I really do love William H. Macy. He's a fine actor that does those sad-eyed stoics so bloody well, I cannot help but want to watch every film his in.

And Neve... oh, Neve. Some of my favorite guilty pleasure movies feature you doing your best rendition of the artsy chick. You as a glassblower mistress in Three to Tango... and, hell, your chic hairdresser in a kimono here in Panic, as well. You're everything I hope to find in a woman... creative, blunt, sensual, and assertive.

It's just... despite the combination of two of my favorite actors, there's just no feeling here.

I don't know if it's the lack of chemistry or the mood is never right, I just feel like the only truly impactful and empathetic moments in the movie are when Macy is talking with his son. Everything else? Just blah.

I think it's an interesting concept for a film, I just wish it had been done better.

It was nice to see John Ritter again and Donald Sutherland did perfectly fine as this sort of sociopathic patriarch. I was actually pretty happy with the flashback sequences where they had to de-age him. Tracey Ullman was a bit of a stretch, I think. Not that she isn't a fine actress, it's just that her own flashback and the emotional moments during the climax felt like acting as opposed to something real.

It was almost there, but never quite right... and that's the complaint I think I have about the film as a whole. Everything about the movie is off. Everything from the title to the natural progress of the supposed stress Macy's hitman Alex is nominally intended to be feeling. His love scene with Campbell is well shot, but empty... the abortive one with Ullman is well-acted, but shallow... and the ultimate reveal by their son and Macy's freak out? Almost a non-issue.

I could read every beat of the film and wasn't surprised in the least. Honestly, the only thing that kept me mildly interested was Neve and her smoulder. It's not that I hated the movie or actively wanted to stop watching, it's just that I felt like I was sleepwalking through the whole thing.

A bit of irony, considering that's what Alex was complaining about to his shrink.

It's not a terrible movie, and was actually rather well shot with a lovely color palette and excellent camera work... it's just boring. And it's certainly not the black comedy that the description promised.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~