Movie Doesn't "Land" Right
Robin Wright's new film fails to fulfill viewers' expectations due to awful acting and shammy special effects.
By Tyler Lilly
Robin Wright's new film fails to fulfill viewers' expectations due to awful acting and shammy special effects.
By Tyler Lilly
“Land” is the directorial debut of long time actor Robin Wright. The movie's plot is relatively simple. A woman named Edee who is dealing with grief after the death of her family goes off the grid in the rocky mountains and comes close to dying but is saved by a local hunter who teaches her how to survive in the wild.
First what I liked. The movie is gorgeous. It is filled with these long sweeping shots of the beautiful surrounding landscape that look as if they could be out of a nature documentary. I also liked Demián Bichir as Miguel as he plays the part of a stoic hunter well. There are also some well shot scenes, two major ones which come to mind being the first when Miguel and Edee are sitting near a fire singing and you can just see their silhouettes in the fire’s glow, and the other is the scene at the start of the movie when she is imaging her dead family. I wished that they expanded on this idea, as it could have made the movie stand out. Another smaller thing I liked was the Native American representation. It was refreshing seeing a new culture that is not often used in Hollywood even if it is just in a small part. Finally, I am also a sucker for dogs and this movie has one, with actual plot importance unlike other movies.
Though I liked these few aspects of the film, it still had a lot of flaws. At the start Edee feels a bit too helpless, and she can't even cut wood or collect water. The movie is not edited well and it relies too heavily on jump cuts that get really annoying. Like the jump cuts, I also feel like there are way too many time skips that hold back the story. The movie takes place over two years, but it feels like it could have taken place over a week or over five years. The story itself is not the best, it feels too simple. There are characters which don't get much development such as the sister and Miguel's family, and even our main character Edee doesn't get much development. I could have done with a bit more flashbacks to fill in her life before all of this. The themes also don’t get much time to develop. This movie claims to be about grief but it doesn’t really deal with it well.
Another thing that this movie has against it is that it kept reminding me of better movies that I could have been watching instead, specifically a few days before I saw this I saw a movie called “Hunter Hunter” which does the concept of being out secluded in the wilderness way better and a lot of movies deal with the concept of grief better than this film. The acting of Robin Wright was not the best either. She has one meltdown, and during it her acting looks like it could be out of “The Room.” Seeing that a lot of the movie is just her character alone, her poor acting really stands out and holds the movie back. Also some of the special effects look quite bad, the scene where she encounters a bear gets it the worst. You can tell the bear is fake, I think I actually saw the same model used in a Toyota commercial.
Another thing I had a big issue with was how the movie handles suicide. It is touched upon twice and both times it was handled quite poorly. The first time, it’s just a throwaway line, so while I don't like it, it’s not as bad as the second time. In the scene, the main character is heavily considering suicide and then just chooses not to so they just drop it there, no lasting effects, no second thoughts, no reflecting on it late in the movie. You should not use something that heavy for just two throwaway parts of the movie. I would have taken both parts out as they don't add anything to the movie. I think the main reason these scenes were in the movie harpens back to my biggest issue in the film, it feels like Oscar bait. This really rubs me the wrong way and might be the reason I felt so off-put by this film.
In the end, the movie delivers a shallow experience that has been done better many times over. Overall, I didn't really like the movie but I could see a few seeds of something that could have been good. However, I am looking forward to seeing what director Robin Wright does next. This is also not the type of movie I usually enjoy, so if the concept sounds interesting to you, check it out.
The movie is out in select theaters on Feb. 12.
First what I liked. The movie is gorgeous. It is filled with these long sweeping shots of the beautiful surrounding landscape that look as if they could be out of a nature documentary. I also liked Demián Bichir as Miguel as he plays the part of a stoic hunter well. There are also some well shot scenes, two major ones which come to mind being the first when Miguel and Edee are sitting near a fire singing and you can just see their silhouettes in the fire’s glow, and the other is the scene at the start of the movie when she is imaging her dead family. I wished that they expanded on this idea, as it could have made the movie stand out. Another smaller thing I liked was the Native American representation. It was refreshing seeing a new culture that is not often used in Hollywood even if it is just in a small part. Finally, I am also a sucker for dogs and this movie has one, with actual plot importance unlike other movies.
Though I liked these few aspects of the film, it still had a lot of flaws. At the start Edee feels a bit too helpless, and she can't even cut wood or collect water. The movie is not edited well and it relies too heavily on jump cuts that get really annoying. Like the jump cuts, I also feel like there are way too many time skips that hold back the story. The movie takes place over two years, but it feels like it could have taken place over a week or over five years. The story itself is not the best, it feels too simple. There are characters which don't get much development such as the sister and Miguel's family, and even our main character Edee doesn't get much development. I could have done with a bit more flashbacks to fill in her life before all of this. The themes also don’t get much time to develop. This movie claims to be about grief but it doesn’t really deal with it well.
Another thing that this movie has against it is that it kept reminding me of better movies that I could have been watching instead, specifically a few days before I saw this I saw a movie called “Hunter Hunter” which does the concept of being out secluded in the wilderness way better and a lot of movies deal with the concept of grief better than this film. The acting of Robin Wright was not the best either. She has one meltdown, and during it her acting looks like it could be out of “The Room.” Seeing that a lot of the movie is just her character alone, her poor acting really stands out and holds the movie back. Also some of the special effects look quite bad, the scene where she encounters a bear gets it the worst. You can tell the bear is fake, I think I actually saw the same model used in a Toyota commercial.
Another thing I had a big issue with was how the movie handles suicide. It is touched upon twice and both times it was handled quite poorly. The first time, it’s just a throwaway line, so while I don't like it, it’s not as bad as the second time. In the scene, the main character is heavily considering suicide and then just chooses not to so they just drop it there, no lasting effects, no second thoughts, no reflecting on it late in the movie. You should not use something that heavy for just two throwaway parts of the movie. I would have taken both parts out as they don't add anything to the movie. I think the main reason these scenes were in the movie harpens back to my biggest issue in the film, it feels like Oscar bait. This really rubs me the wrong way and might be the reason I felt so off-put by this film.
In the end, the movie delivers a shallow experience that has been done better many times over. Overall, I didn't really like the movie but I could see a few seeds of something that could have been good. However, I am looking forward to seeing what director Robin Wright does next. This is also not the type of movie I usually enjoy, so if the concept sounds interesting to you, check it out.
The movie is out in select theaters on Feb. 12.