Recently I've stopped watching a lot of "indie" films. For the most part I've found a lot of the films released after Garden State made minimalist movies that had quirky, flawed characters, appeal to wider audiences to be on verge of being so pretentious that they make me want to throw something at the tv. Garden State was an exceptional film, but many writers and directors trying to reach that audience have bastardized the concepts that made the film so good. I honestly have gotten to the point where whenever the typified troubled, young, artistic character has a moment of self discovery, or as I have taken to calling it, a pseudo zen Garden State aha! moment (I've used the exact phrase in conversation, I promise), I check out for the rest of the film.
So with that rant out of the way, I introduce you to The Cult of Sincerity, a film I probably would have never watched except it was on instant watch on nextflix, it was pretty late at night, and the trailer seemed intriguing. I'm so glad I decided to watch it.
The plot centers around a guy named Joseph who, fed up with his generation's sarcastic and uncaring attitude, decides to start his own one-man movement to be more real with people.
There's no getting around it, the characters are part of the much loathed "hipster" sub-culture, they thrive on irony, are into art, and don't give a shit about anything, But I don't know if trying to categorize the characters under such a blanket statement is fair, hipster or no, they are all pretty relatable. Joe tries to combat their attitude but finds it much more difficult than he thought (I found a discussion on post modernism to be particularly humorous).
Now, if what I described sounds like it could be exactly the type of trite, pretentious movie that I should hate, then you are right, but it doesn't try to hammer you in the face with philosophy, or realizations about humanity at least not in an obnoxious way. The acting is very believable, and I think that is a lot of what sets this film apart from most others.
All said The Cult of Sincerity is a smart, funny film who's message isn't annoying or pretentious. But, that's just my opinion.
8.5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment