Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)

Title: Velvet Buzzsaw

Year: 2019

Genre: Horror | Mystery |Thriller |

Runtime: 113  min

Director: Dan Gilroy

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Zawe Ashton

 
5,2/10

After a series of paintings by an unknown artist are discovered, a supernatural force enacts revenge on those who have allowed their greed to get in the way of art.

ONE OFTHE MOVIE THAT

MAKES YOU WANT TO KILL YOURSELF

Every ounce and inches of innovative craftmanship and art considering of Direction, acting performance, script, editing, music score. Every inch that supposed to be good of Nightcrawler (2014) has with Velvet Buzzsaw vanished into nothing. Nightcrawler wasn’t exactly the best movie but it was far more entertaining than this garbage.

Now, Jake Gyllenhaal is a pretty dedicated actor who is more than qualify for this kind of role. In fact, it’s probably one of type of character. This is where is comfortable with, but it must be even more extreme when it comes to the character development and execution of his performance. He is an art critic. Someone who wants to kill themselves after reading his dreadful reviews. But his critical point of view in this movie doesn’t further the story along. It’s rather more deceptive than to not include his abstract opinions. As Morf, you don’t really get to know him. He shifts relationship between women and men and his life goal consist the same from beginning to the end. It is hard to know what he strives for and what he wants. He critic everything he sees and hears. As a character, he ain’t that likable.

As for Rene Russo, who also had a significant role in Nightcrawler, feels like a dreadful entrepreneur who is blinded by greed, recognition and money. She is fit to play an antagonist, but she is not that memorable but far more enjoyable than Gyllenhaal’s uneven performance. Zawe Ashton, who is in the middle of all this, feels like a wasted of money and time. She doesn’t know at all how to play her character and you senses that she doesn’t belong in this movie. Toni Collette, Billy Magnussen and John Malkovich has also a part in this. They are quite active in the beginning and complain constantly but in the end, you forget about their existence. They’re so forgetful and so boring to watch. They’ve both been in so much better movies and this is not that one.

Dan Gilroy, who made a name for himself for Nightcrawler, didn’t succeed for this movie. He has trouble to set the pace, the tone, acting, editing, dialogue, message and everything between in terms of the narrative and visual aspects. He tries so desperately to cram every actor into this movie. He doesn’t know how to do it, and this is his FAILED result. The bland touch of drama and horror doesn’t add up and everything appears wrong and distasteful.

This was a movie I actually looked forward to. I’ve enjoyed Gyllenhaals movies more after Nightcrawler, Prisoners, Everest and Life. All of these movies where is performance was way better than this. Gilroy has this Netflix-movie to showcase to aspired filmmakers how not to produce and shoot a movie. The fact it’s a Netflix movie say something of what kind of signals it wants to send. It would be better in cinemas, but quality would perhaps been far more effective. In conclusion, it’s a waste of time for you, and the cast and crew involved.