Sunday, July 03, 2016

Mojave

The Gist: A famous but conflicted artist heads to the Mojave desert determined to get some closure for whatever ails him. Instead, he is approached by a mysterious drifter with some peculiar complexes. Soon enough, they start trying to outsmart one another and things precipitate.

Mojave is a movie I decided to watch on a whim because I love deserts in general and I loved the Mojave desert. Unfortunately, right from the get-go I could tell that this might turn out to be a dud.

I have to say that both Garrett Hedlund and Oscar Isaac, on top of being handsome (make that drop-dead-gorgeous in Hedlund's case), do a pretty good job of playing their respective parts, so the problem resides elsewhere.

Ultimately, I think that a weak screenplay, coupled with poor direction caused this promising thriller to fizzle out. The not so shocking thing is that the director and screenwriter are one and the same (no surprise there). The shocking thing is that this is the very same guy who won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for Martin Scorsese's Best Picture Oscar winner The Departed!!

I think it's safe to say that William Monahan should stick with writing, even though that failed him here as well...

The Bottom Line: I would not recommend this title. You're better off watching The Departed...

Grade: 5

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