Goodbye, Solo

I wish I had better things to say about this movie, because apparently everyone else on the planet does. I spent a fair amount of time researching Goodbye, Solo (2008) before I went to the theater to watch it, and I cannot recall having seen a negative review. Charlie Rose had the stars and director on for a twenty minute interview that left me Stoked out of my mind for this movie. Roger Ebert said that Ramin Bahrani was the new great American film maker. The film boasts a 7.5 on IMDb. While generally I'm a little wary of a critic's opinion - and herein lies the irony of this blog - I found myself accepting what they had to say. I decided that this movie was going to be fucking awesome, god dammit. But sadly, I literally fell asleep, and have since decided that Goodbye, Solo's folly was not necessarily present within the film, but was in fact the praise that it wrought. Like so many other films before it, Bahrani's was the victim of hype. ...Solo could not have possibly lived up to the praise that it was given before audiences were allowed to watch.

Bahrani says himself - just type the name into a YouTube search and voila! - that the film is an unconventional look at the impossible formation of a loving relationship. It is an unlikely friendship that forms between our protagonist, Solo (Savane), and his suicidal counterpart, William (West). It's suggested that the film is beautiful and deeply personal, while simultaneously presenting ideas that are difficult to comprehend. It prides itself, as do the critics, on its implementation of amateur actors that provide the film with a more realistic feel than your average Hollywood Blockbuster. I also caught wind of there being a strange parallel between the film's characters, and the actors who portray them. All that's fine and good, but what Bahrani seems to forget is that a film is first and foremost a form of entertainment. In order for your audience to be able to consider the message that you put forth, they must be entertained by it. This film failed to do so, almost wholly because of the hype that preceded it. Again, I literally fell asleep.

How this film may have affected me had I not been exposed to the mass of information available, I cannot say. Such an endeavor is pointless; I cannot separate myself from the hype surrounding it, and so I must say that the movie is mediocre at best. Few films can live up to the hype that precede them. I can think only of two offhand: The Dark Knight and District 9. Certainly there are others. But when you hear a review of a movie, you never hear that it's terrible. What the fuck would be the point in that? That would not get you Stoked about a movie at all. It's safe to say that one should be skeptical when going into a theater. Though I told myself to put the hype as far out of mind as possible when I sat down, I could not help but be let down. The principal actors were wonderful, especially when one considers that this was their starring premiere. The supporting cast, however, weighs down the film so much that it's hard to enjoy what the leads are doing. Bahrani also has placed, seemingly arbitrarily, a number of lingering shots that serve no purpose. The plot is less than remarkable, so much so that one must argue that the film is merely a character study in order to salvage some sort of credibility. That alone does not save it, though. While many things happen, they're never very interesting, and if they are, it's because they're unrealistic, which completely negates Bahrani's intention of being as true-to-life as possible.

Verdict: Not Stoked.

More importantly is that a million and a half people turned out to watch the movie, not all of whom were required to do so because of class obligations. Which is awesome. No matter what they thought, people still showed up and talked about the movie. Whether they were bitching, or raving, what's crucial is that they were discussing it. No matter what I thought of the movie, the fact that I watched something with people in my town means I had something to talk to them about. Which is always better and more productive than sitting around watching douchebags get makeovers on some reality show.


Ultimately, see the film for yourself and decide, but make sure you talk about it with someone after. Otherwise, what's the point?