Good movie but grossly overrated

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

6ixtynin9 (Ruang talok 69) is without doubt a film of acquired tastes, a pic that's hard to recommend with any great confidence. That is, though, unless you have a kink for violent black comedy crime movies, where the narrative drive is quirky and fulsome, even winsome in some regards.Story finds Lalita Panyopas (excellent) as Tum, a lady who has just been laid off from work courtesy of lots being drawn. Feeling desperate and at the end of her tether, she's amazed to find on her doorstep a noodle box with $25,000 in it. A gift from the gods? Not quite! And once some shifty gangster types come knocking at her door, nothing will ever be the same again...There's a whole ream of films this draws from, but favourably so, especially since the films often referenced in reviews are pretty tasty in themselves. Yet this is no hack job, director and writer Pen-Ek Ratanaruang has crafted a splendid pot of Thai neo-noir curry, putting his own stamp on things, imbuing the pic with his own flourishes, such as showing acts of violence off screen! Via a shadow, a splatter of blood, or a pair of legs going limp.The characters who inhabit this world are gloriously strange or purely deranged. The henchmen are from a Thai boxing club, garishly attired in bright red clobber (film is packed with pronounced reds), one of them is even deaf, while their boss is a bit off the map, likes to have one of his charges massage him with is feet. There's a phone sex pest, who ends up being a real key component to how things pan out, and one of the baddies reveals tears and a most bizarre death in the family!It's all deliciously off kilter, even as the bodies pile up, the black comedy tongue is prodding away at the inside of the cheek. But ultimately its noir heart is with the vagary of fate and of the coincidences that pitch our everyday woman (she's no moll or assassin type) into a bloody and bonkers world. All of which has hinged, ironically, on a number badly screwed to an apartment door! 8/10

This is one of those films where nothing is overly blatant, hardly anything is granted by ways of the lead character's internal character and history, and it isn't jam-packed with various sceneries, dialog, etc. Nothing is too 'in your face', hardly any emotion is shown or felt throughout the film, and even (despite the various killings), action seems to be lacking... It's decidedly quiet, introverted and monotone and YET, somehow completely quirky, insane and colorful at the same time. The film is intelligently crafted in such a way that, by the end of the film, you aren't sure WHAT to make of it, or how to classify it... Except you do know one thing; whatever you just watched, you know, in retrospect, you loved it. And even after identifying the fact that you enjoyed the ride, you still wouldn't rank this strange, ambiguous little film as your top film, but for that you just love it all the more. It's bizarre, zany, quirky, inane, insane, full of black humor and wit, and full of hidden metaphors and analogies not immediately accessible. You can tell when its over that despite its absurdity, within all the intermediary spots where much is left unsaid, the director has packed a good deal for you to think about, and clearly had some lucid, thought-out objectives for the film. An intelligent, unique little film that's a heck of a fun ride to watch. Highly recommended!

Ruang talok 69 doesn't have the pace of current Hollywood movies and it doesn't need to: Pen-ek has got a story to tell. There is no need to for special effects to distract the viewer from a barely existing plot. Rather, a woman's (Tum) struggle in the aftermath of the 1997 economic crisis is depicted with tremendous cinematographic talent. We are shown how she manages, despite finding a bunch-load of cash, to stay true to herself and to resist the temptation of easy money; unlike many during the Tom Yam Gong Disease crisis. Apart from that, '69' entertains with plenty nice shots and love for details, as well as characters which, unlike in many other Thai films, are balanced and like taken from everyday live in Bangkok. In my opinion, this is Pan-ek's best and deepest, yet most amusing movie.

Rented this after definitely enjoying "Final Life in the Universe" also by director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. Please see that one first, if you enjoy it, then perhaps check this one out.This has trace stylish connections to the other, and there is enough cleverness throughout to make this worth watching, however I'm going to have to invoke a new rule that for every dead body a film loses 5 minutes of character depth. Indeed, corpses in films are just roles that the writer/director didn't care enough about to flesh out, and instead just flushed them down.The "comedy" here is meant to mingle in a way that I guess is vaguely connected to Tarantino, like QT there's enough tension and blood that some folks won't be able to see the mirth for the murder. Good dream and imagination sequences, and an excellent soundtrack (not just the songs, but the pure soundtrack as well). It was funny seeing a cassette player, in a critical role, I tried renting a car with one recently so I could play some books on tape. I had about as much luck as any given male character has of surviving in this film.The lead actress, evidently a soap opera star in Thailand, had a beguiling placidity, that really played well as a mouse who roars. The more I think about the film: the masquerading of the "Mafia" man, an excellent use of a mirror in a shot in a cafe, the shot through a keyhole, the symbol of Tum's killer coolness by way of a fly she traps in an ice drink, some of the lines (Jim's request for "just blood, no giblets" and whatever the manicure-to-brain-infection was all about), the more I like this. It's just a genre that I don't normally seek out...sure I'm as desensitized to death as the next guy, but I still am not crazy about seeing it. Nor having to sort of glide past implausibilities...(eg, death by vase to the head??).I think where "Final Life..." (aka "Ruang Rak Noi Nid Mahasan") succeeds better than this, is that the murder that occurs in that remains mysterious and never the focal point. Here the guarded nature of the lead actress, and left without a real confidante, limits any sort of insight into what she's actually going through. But again this is not an actual film, it is more a fantasy, and I prefer mine with little or no blood.Still, head and shoulders above so much other dreck, though I wonder if this is really seen as "Thai" cinema. IMDb shows that Pen-Ek spent some time in the US at Pratt Institute, clearly his years there and as an Art Director for other folks makes his silver screen cuisine more cosmopolitan with Thai seasoning than anything else.I also hate the US title, although it might be a jab at folks looking for another sort of Thai video altogether (something the director pokes at twice during the film). Since I can't quite see to giving this a 9, I guess I'll give it a 6/10PS On no...not a mandatory 'merican remakehttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427994/combined