Interesting Premise; Horrible Execution
Added 10/7/2009
After about 20 minutes I disliked this film. The potential, how cool is this, security camera footage blended together into a story? What an awesome idea. Oh but what a bad film, so poorly made.
The film opens with these very serious titles, there's some bazillions of hours of security camera footage, every American is filmed at least some incredible number of times a day... And then what does the film cut to? Two girls naked in a changing room. Yes they are both very cute, they have very pretty bodies, and nobody can ever deny that. But come on Adam Rifkin, could he have chosen a more hackneyed, prurient choice? Any belief that this might be some form of documentary or study of security camera video, as the opening titles suggest; went 100% completely out the window. The film follows a number of stories and people that ultimately cross paths and end up with a very neat tidy bow at the end of the film. Sadly, just about every cliché imaginable is covered in this film.
From a technical standpoint, the concept of security camera works for about 5 minutes. Nobody wants to watch an almost two hour movie of grainy, out of focus, fixed position cameras. So Rifkin decided to do away with that concept, and only occasionally reminds us that this is supposed to be surveillance cameras. The film has virtually no rhythm. It tries to create some complication by cutting between story lines. In the end, he spends infinitely too much time in the convenience store, and just about every other set he's chosen. Near the end some cutting between stories gets an interesting pace; otherwise, the whole film just plods along. In fact the salt in the wound, there's several scenes where Rifkin fast forwards the video tape, so we don't have to sit listening to some character natter on about nothing. The worst part of this, in the extended scene bonus features; he plays each of those scenes out - there's 45 minutes of this garbage.
The film is rated R, and deserves every bit of that rating. There's no fear in showing Tony having sex with several female employees of the department store; a male shipping clerk masturbating behind his computer; and the two girls trying on clothes. But all the male parts are pixellated. It is pathetic. There's plenty of strong language. Drug use. And violence.
The bonus features are just horrible. They are incredibly long and tiresome. There is a reel of extended scenes. Another reel of director deleted scenes (the last one of this series is so worth watching, it is the only funny moment in the film that isn't included in the film). Another reel of 'behind the scenes,' where somebody with an absolutely awful voice talks about the preproduction and production work of this film. It is one of the worst films of this type I've ever seen. If anyone could stand to watch this film over again, there is director commentary.
Such a bad film. Every cliché in the world is shown. The concept was decent, but the actual film is just plain pitiful.
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LOOK is not what I expected!
Added 9/24/2009
This video documentary has some interesting points, but its production values are poor and amateurish. I found it difficult to finish watching the documentary, simply because it didn't hold my interest. I admit am not a documentary fan, but with all due respect to the production team, this one just didn't hit the spot for me.
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A very original and interesting twist to a familiar story
Added 9/19/2009
Based entirely on what are suppose to be clips from surveillance cameras, 'Look' uses an interesting premise to tell a story about how the lives of various different people within a city ultimately cross paths and effect one another. In what would probably be considered an Alejandro González Iñárritu rip-off, 'Look' distinguishes itself from movies like 'Babel' and '21 Grams' by the use of the surveillance camera idea, which works very well and makes the movie not just very original, but very interesting.
There are a few scenes, particularly at the very beginning, that seem completely ridiculous and unrealistic... so much so that I was put off by it and nearly ended the movie there, but after getting past the first five or ten minutes, I found the stories got better and engrossing. None of the stories within the movie were difficult to believe, as some scenes would be very familiar to anyone who's kept an eye on news headlines during the last ten or fifteen years, which along with the point of view you get from the film, gives you a very realistic and thought-provoking movie. If it weren't for the couple of bad scenes, particularly at the beginning, I would have given it five stars, however those brief scenes were enough to bring you out of the voyeuristic state you find yourself in while watching the movie.
Overall, the movie doesn't try to resolve anything in particular, answer any questions, or provide you with an enlightened mood when the film is over... it's there to give you a short glimpse of the lives of people who could very easily be living in your town right now. Similar to movies like 'Babel', '21 Grams', and 'Crash', it reminds you that decisions you make can end up affecting the lives of other people, and brings to light the disrespect between people that seems to be so common place today. Like it or not, this movie is a very realistic view of the world we live in today. It's meant to be thought-provoking and eye-opening, while providing a level of entertainment. In that respect, it works nearly perfectly for me.
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Interesting take at our electronic surveillance society
Added 8/4/2009
The entire movie was shot from the angle and typical locations of security surveillance cameras, often imitating blurred images and the low quality of the typical low-resolution cameras used in real life for surveillance. As several stories develop in parallel, the Director managed to produce a film that feels like a documentary, allowing the viewer to almost always have the impression that he is watching actual video surveillance materials, and making you wonder and reflect on how you could be caught in embarrassing or illegal situations, but hopefully, without the typical boredom of a documentary.
As surveillance in western societies takes place everywhere, the film successfully delivers its main message, making the audience aware of the actual lack of privacy we all are exposed to. The film makers claim at the opening of the movie that in average a normal citizen is filmed 200 times a day. This figure seemed exaggerated to me at first, but after watching the movie I was persuaded that this order of magnitude is reasonable after all. In the positive side, the movie proves how useful so much video surveillance can be when needed. However, the movie completely missed a relevant issue regarding the "Big Brother" side of so much surveillance, as the film did not explore in any of the parallel stories the potential abuse of the materials being filmed.
Due to this huge omission, I was going to rate the move three stars, nevertheless, I enjoy it, so this explains my upgrade to four stars. For those concerned about the "Big Brother" effect, the movie is still worth watching, as you can draw your own conclusions of all the possible misuses from all the situations presented in the movie. Finally a word of warning: some folks might object some sex scenes and brief nudity, but that is part of what real surveillance cameras record everyday in public places, at work, and at home.
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Engrossing Look at Voyeurism and Reality
Added 7/28/2009
I knew what to expect on format and subject of this movie, but I didn't expect to be so captivated by it. The movie is an intertwining series of seemingly unrelated story lines all caught on various surveillance cameras. This movie often appears to be the result of combing through thousands of hours of videos hoping to capture that one moment of truth. I assumed it would be something like a fake version of Caught on Tape or one of the other reality like shows that exploit the hidden truth that only cameras can expose. Instead this movie showed many dramatic points that are often overlooked in reality shows. Being a fictional drama, the director was able to tweak the "honesty" just a little for gut reactions. I was reminded of Elephant: A Film By Gus Van Sant which also came across as unrelenting reality - but not as a mockumentary style that is often used in other reality-esque dramas. This movie kept me watching and kept me "suspending my disbelief" as they say in cinema talk. I forgot for long portions of the movie that I was watching a film with actors, not just a monitor hooked up to a camera in a parking lot or mall or convenience store, etc. This movie may be a little experimental for those that like their movies conventional, but for those that like to change it up a little bit - this is a very interesting and engrossing film.
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