A Bigger Splash (2015)

'A Bigger Splash' may not have a great amount of depth to it, but it's still a thoroughly entertaining piece of soapy drama with a knockout performance by Ralph Fiennes. After viewing previous films by Italian director Luca Guadagnino, I was prepared to watch the film that was visually stunning but also quite slow-moving. While the former certainly met my expectations, with beautiful direction, cinematography, scenery and costume design, I was quite wrong about the latter. The pacing in this film certainly picks up, compared to Guadagnino's previous works, making this film a little easier to remain attentive to. A film doesn't need a fast pace to be good, but it certainly does help. There are obviously exceptions to that rule. Telling the story of four different characters, all with conflicting and interesting quirks, who are holidaying on an island in Pantelleria and the drama that ensues, which is wildly entertaining, mainly due to the brilliant performances. Normally, I'd rave on about Tilda Swinton and how she's my favorite actress and that she was brilliant etc... etc... (did I just do exactly that?) but it was undoubtedly Ralph Fiennes acting that stole the film. Taking charge of every scene he's in, Fiennes brings his bombastic and loud character to life and is certainly the highlight of the film. Dakota Johnson and Matthias Schoenaerts also do very well in their roles, but it's certainly Fiennes that is the frontman. Despite the film being engaging and pleasurable, it never reaches greatness. The third act of the film falls flat and essentially becomes a bore, which lets the film down. The climax is rather anticlimactic and feels like something was missing. Unfortunately, this leaves the film feeling rather average once the credits roll. Alas, the film is saved from being poor with its visual appeal, brilliant acting, and screenplay and masterful direction by Luca Guadagnino.

The cast is great, story however is weak and opaque. With so many better movies to choose from, this one should seldom, if ever, be watched. Great landscapes, nice cinematography, good acting; just no story. There are a lot of stories within this plot the writer could have explored, so many possible dialogue possibilities. Instead there is nothing...unless you make something up in your mind...in which case you have another reason to not watch.

I hadn't seen A Bigger Splash but after being dazzled by Call Me By Your Name, I rushed to find and see this Luca Guadagnino 2015 film and it confirmed without a doubt that Luca Guadagnino is a remarkable filmmaker with a retro eye and a futuristic sensibility. His elegance makes cinematic the most unpalatable of tales and this one, a four sided triangle, it's unpalatable and scrumptious all at the same time. Tilda Swinton is superb as the voiceless singer, Dakota Johnson gave me, for the first time, a glimpse into what she could be, Matthias Schoenaerts hits all the right notes even the most unexpected ones but Ralph Fiennes gives a performance that it hast to be seen to be believed mostly because this is the same actor in Schindler's List, Quiz Show, In Bruges and last year he provided me woth one of the funniest scenes of the year in Hail Caesar. So, as you must gather, I had a great time and I'll wait for the next Guadagnino with childish anticipation

'A BIGGER SPLASH': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)A dark comedy-drama directed by Luca Guadagnino; who also helmed the outstanding 2009 Italian drama 'I AM LOVE'. The movie stars Tilda Swinton (who also starred in 'I AM LOVE'), Ralph Fiennes, Matthias Schoenaerts and Dakota Johnson. It was written by David Kajganich and Alain Page. The film tells the story of four friends spending vacation together, on a remote Italian island, when things go horribly wrong. It's received mostly positive reviews from critics, and it's been nominated for multiple prestigious awards (and it's even won a few of them). I found it to be somewhat interesting, but it's definitely nothing special. A popular rock star, named Marianne Lane (Swinton), and her filmmaker boyfriend Paul (Schoenaerts), are spending vacation together on the Italian island of Pantelleria. An old friend of theirs, named Harry (Fiennes), unexpectedly decides to visit them. He brings along his adult daughter, Penelope (Johnson), who he just met. Things become tense between all of them, and then things go drastically wrong as well.The movie is bizarre, and it does take a really dark turn in the third act. I'm really not sure how I felt about the film as a whole. None of the characters in it are very likable; Swinton's rock star is actually the closest thing to a character you can really root for. The performances are all decent in it though, and the movie is somewhat interesting (at the very least).Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' review at: https://youtu.be/RO7ghqXHCCY