Listening (2015)

Film is decent. Strong points are interesting concept, good pacing, and strong acting. Weak points include pretty bad dialogue and some key unbelievable plot points, weird choices in aesthetic. The movie is worth it, but its not perfect. Constantly struck by how weird everything looks in the like yellow-green tint. Added nothing to the movie. The dialogue is also pretty unimpressive. Not a memorable or striking exchange in the movie because of the awkward word choice. However this is all made passable by the strong concept and moral questions that are brought into the scope of the film. It touches on the concept of sacrifice and freedom as we brave a new age where technology entangles with the human brain. A lot to take away as any good scifi should.

I think 4 out of 10 stars for this movie is generous but I'll admit it has a really fascinating concept. That was why I chose to watch it, was the premise. It just didn't deliver.At no point are the three lead actors convincing in their roles. They are poorly written and don't even make sense. I never believed that any of these grad students could be remotely capable of the advanced science they were supposed to be doing. And the characters are not likable. I was never rooting for them to succeed in any manner.Not to mention that this "sci-fi" movie was predictable and filled with every cliché and trope in the book. It's not even worth this many words.

I thought this was an interesting concept film - sure there are relationship breakdowns in it but these characters depicted are clever - they are not perfect. This film is simply about accessing Telepathy and what you might do if you could read or influence another persons thought processes and what happens when a g'meant gets hold of technology for controlling its citizens thinking. Listening is an interesting concept film. I say concept because you need to constantly watch out for the critics (rotten tomatoes) who review films - they give big scores to crap films like Spy and Turbo Kid and then hang crap on a concept film like this. I don't understand what exactly they hope to gain out of honoring stupid spoof films or comedy genital overloaded jokes films with there 8/10 score. They don't like concept films that's for sure!!.

Not a bad premise for a movie, and it's production value is pretty good. However it's not highly rated for a reason. Where this movie falls part is not so much in the concept per say, but in the expression of it. The script writing is not B rated, but it surely isn't driving the story. There are parts where you wonder, if it had better acting would the script have come off better. As it stands there are some parts where it seems amateurish both in the writing and the acting. There are some movies where bad actors can be uplifted by a good script (matrix) and rarely good actors can pump up a bad script (think Ray Harryhausen or any martial arts movie). This film is neither and they both seem to sink each other equally. As the writing degrades so goes the acting, as none of the actors were good enough to hold it up. Yet in the instances where the script is good the bad acting isn't so apparent. What makes the movie watchable is the concept. The concept of what they are trying to discuss and it's moral implications draw your interest. It helps set a frame work that at least makes the movie watchable. It would be interesting to know the total budget of this movie. It surely isn't block buster...but it also does not appear on the low end like a Primer. Although I think the movie would have been better suited to have more of a primer set up, disusing things cryptically and leaving in some mystery till you get into the movie. IF you like sci fi movies it's a decent sci fi watch on a boring night with nothing else to do. However, I wouldn't go dropping $7 on a ticket for it.