The East (2013)

[baumer]

Discuss

[baumer]

A powerful film that doesn't quite reach the level of excellence I had hoped it would.  I was expecting something more gut busting and instead what I got was a very good film that deals with tough and prevalent issues but it surrounds it with a love story.  I wanted more about the bastards who get away with stuff and are targets in this film.  I'll write more later.  It's a very good movie, but misses greatness.

 

8.5/10

[Ezen Baklattan]

The movie never felt truly focused. The procedural stuff sort of works, even if it's not always clear, and the love story was a bit jarring. I also would have been willing to cut out around 20 minutes of the film, as it certainly drags in places. Still, it's got an interesting premise and a great performance from Ellen Page and Brit Marling (who totally ought to break out into the mainstream Hollywood soon.

 

It's a decent film, but it could have explored its subject matter in a better manner.

 

B-

[JonnyCraig]

There is 3/4's of a great film here, but the last 25 minutes or so throws its rhythm out of balance. I found the random love story unconvincing, and felt that the conclusion threw the complexity of the proceedings out the window in favor of a pat, tidy resolution. I wish the film would've gone more deeply into the moral dilemmas the movement places itself in, but it is nonetheless a crisply paced and compelling thriller for the most part. The one thing which bugs me about Marling sometimes, the high-society aura she projects (to me at least), ends up actually working to her advantage here.

 

Despite its flaws, I would still give it an 8 or so due to the quality of the first 90 minutes.

[A Marvel Fanboy]

This movie is a huge let down.

 

C at the best.

[baumer]

bump

[4815162342]

The whole love story angle undermines the entire film since Marling's heel-face turn to support the group and its ventures never get any justification other than a couple half-assed sentences she utters to Clarkson's character near the end. So really, she decides to become a criminal and betray/destroy her relationships because she thinks Skarsgard is hot, which really is a facepalm-worthy plot turn.

[JohnnyGossamer]

I actually thought this was awful. The conclusion she arrives at in the end is so obvious that, while somewhat intelligent, it made a juvenile narrative seem even more adolescent.

 

D for attempting something interesting. That's it.

[Michael Gary Scott]

I'd give it a B and Brit Marling was fantastic. 4/5

[bed005]

It kept me interested and engaged the entire time, even if there were some parts that didn't make a whole lot of sense.  Definitely a unique take on "terrorist" groups.

 

8/10

[mattmav45]

The ideas let me down in a big way here.

 

The film has a good set-up and gets off to a pretty strong start.  The idea of an undercover operative infiltrating an activist group like this has potential.  In fact the film is quite engaging initially as there is a unique vibe to the proceedings.  In particular the film does a good job in establishing and drawing out the inherent mystery surrounding said group.  Unfortunately it doesn't seem to know where to go with it.

 

There reached a point in the film where I began to have trouble getting the tone.  I couldn't quite tell if there was a concerted effort to draw out a comical angle or if we were supposed to take it all seriously.  I will admit the messiness here was initially somewhat appealing but it didn't take long for the film to lose favor with me after this.

 

At a certain point the message of the film breaks through and let's just say it's pretty damn heavy-handed.  I wouldn't argue if one made the statement that the message on display was simply preachy as fuck.  I'm not usually a fan of handling viewpoints like this, but can deal with it if they are handled in an intelligent manner.   There just wasn't that much depth to what the film was trying to say here.  These arguments did not tend to provoke much (if any) kind of intellectual thought.  They were presented in such an all-knowing way that it was quite frankly off-putting.

 

If you are going to make a film in this kind of vein there needs to be a driving character arc.  The problem with Sarah in this film is we never get to know her before she goes undercover.  There is no change for us to witness.  It all just feels way to easy and convenient.  I will be a bit blunt and say at times her transition here tends to be a bit laughable in nature.

 

Simply put........it's an issue-driven intellectual film in theory only.