The Pleasure of Being Robbed (2008)

THE PLEASURE OF BEING ROBBED (dir. Joshua Safdie) A brash example of LoFi Mumblecore that presents an unapologetic look at a whimsical sociopath who believes that anything that strikes her fancy is hers for the taking. Elenore swipes everything from kittens to Volvos, and the film's uncomfortable message seems to be that her victims are only being blessed by her wonderfulness. Needless to say, it's nearly impossible for a rational viewer to rally round a character with such an extreme egocentric focus, yet the film might only be a sly cinematic valentine by director Joshua Safdie to articulate his feelings for the star of the film, Eleonore Hendricks.

I want the 70 minutes of my life back from having watched this film. THis film has no point, no plot, no answers NOTHING. I never did find out who or where those dang pets came from or what happened to them after. There was so much randomness that had nothing to do with anything else in the film and scenes that really made no sense.... Like why would cops let a girl loose in a zoo after arresting her for shoplifting? What the heck was the point of her imagining herself frolicking in ice water with a giant stuffed polar bear... mind you there are no other scenes where we see her having blatant hallucinations or a big imagination in other parts of the film. The film was just long and pointless and I really don't see how anyone can sit and pretend they "got" the film when there was nothing to get in the first place. I love indie films and artistic films. Even some of those indie, artistic, hipster films.... but this was just sheer garbage.

Unfortunately I had the displeasure of watching this schlock last night. My girl and I like indy movies, so after reading a blurb describing it we decided to order it on demand. It said that this "movie" got rave reviews at Cannes. After this I will never trust Cannes critics again as they must write their reviews between crack cocaine parties.The other bad reviews written here perfectly describe what this movie is. In the first 5 minutes I got a very bad feeling and told my girl, "This better get a whole lot better soon". It never did. The film has no plot whatsoever and is completely pointless "mumblecore". "Mumblecore" is a perfect term for it and I wasn't aware of such a term until reading reviews of it last night (unfortunately, after I spent $6.99 and killed 70 minute of my life on it). Apparently, mumblecore is a trendy term used to justify supposed artistic value of totally pointless, talentless garbage.This movie has moved into #2 spot in the worst movie I've ever seen list. The only one worse was a movie called "Black Dahlia" by a German scam artist who shoots crap on video, tags it with a title of a well known Hollywood film, hires a graphic designer to make a nice cover for it and somehow gets it into Blockbuster so that people rent it by mistake."Freddy Got Fingered", an atrociously gross, completely unfunny "comedy" by Tom Green has been downgraded to the #3 worst movie I've ever seen, as this one has taken over the #2 spot. That is some achievement.Is this what passes for movie making among the artsy fartsy teens these days? I hope that the director who also "starred" in it at least got laid with the main character. I'm pretty sure that was the main goal of making this.I feel robbed of $6.99 it cost me to order this waste of film on demand, but like the victims of petty theft in the movie I didn't experience any pleasure of being robbed. The only good thing about this film is that it's only 70 minutes long. The bad part is that you can show everything that takes place in it in a 10-minute short.I can make a more entertaining film by walking around NYC with my camcorder for a couple of days.Unless you're on crack like the guy who wrote the positive review of it on here (possibly the director himself or one of his buddies) save yourself 70 minutes of your life. If you spend the same 70 minutes popping bubble wrap bubbles you'll get more entertainment out of your time.

Seemingly unaware of itself, The Pleasure of Being Robbed, floats along each frame in a similar fashion that Eleonore does. Not for a second is the film pretentious as one may think after reading a brief description; there is no judgment on Eleonore. We follow and watch her as she goes through her day, stealing smiles, hugs, and kittens from strangers. It is intriguing and (seemingly) unconscious in the same ways Richard Linklater's Slacker is, and with this said, it is likely those who did not find Slacker appealing would not be interested in The Pleasure of Being Robbed. (This review is coming from someone who is in love with Slacker so...) But it is more intimate than Slacker is; in Slacker, we only get a couple of minutes with each character; with The Pleasure of Being Robbed, we get 71 minutes. With this said, it is not a continuation of Slacker; it stands on its' own as a piece of art. Eleonore is essentially a child. She tip-toes around (literally, in some instances), looking as though she is singing something in her head and giggles and smiles to herself. She has little inhibition and thus, feels the right to steal from people in order to peak into their lives and create another self. In the spirit of Arthur Rimbaud, "I is someone else," for her. And just the way people love children for not restraining themselves with certain actions, they know it is also selfish. Her character is both beautiful and sad; both distant and relate-able.I saw this film at the IFC in New York City and the director and the woman who played Eleonore were there after (along with the other makers of the film) answering questions. I was pleasantly surprised at how honest Josh Safdie (the director) was in his answers. He was completely genuine and modest, and seemed excited, going on digressions. It was a nice change in a place that is often overwhelmed by pretentious, arrogant, aspiring filmmakers.