Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

the audience applauded

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

In no way is this a great movie, but it kept me engaged to the end. Would I watch it again? Absolutely not, but it did have a few redeeming qualities. Specifically: 1) First and foremost, I thought Oscar Isaac was excellent in it. He is clearly the star of the movie and had all of the best lines (Not that there were many of them). 2) There was a bit of suspense in the cat and mouse game between Hedlund and Isaac. 3) I wanted to know how it would turn out and the ending was slightly different than what I expected.The cons: 1) Hedlund's character is a real jerk and you can't stand him. Almost made me root for Isaac's character. 2) You never really understand why Hedlund's character is so unhappy and such a jerk. 3) The pace moves very slowly at times. 4) Nothing particularly innovative or creative about the script.

I don't know what it is about cool Los Angeles movies, with the main protagonist being a lost soul who comes to some epiphany at the end of the movie, however small or minuscule it may be. They somehow give me, as a LA native, something to strive for, or comfort in being exactly who I am. Like Malick's Knight of Cups or Sofia Coppola's Somewhere, Mojave hits all the right spots for this movie addict.The story is philosophical in many places, and highlights the highs and lows of man. The film ends with the protagonist reading a book to his daughter, reflecting whether the good or the bad of a man's character is examined by others throughout their lives. A great way to end a story of murder and manipulation.I am not a reviewer to really discuss the plot lines of a movie. But I can say that the same writer for The Departed, William Monahan, had written and directed this, giving it credibility in my book. I am eager to check out his other work as well.I give this an 8, but in my mind it deserves more. It was a great watch on a random night. Forget what the other critics say, it's a terrific ride, another story about the City of Angels.8 Stars

Mojave (2016) is simply just a bland and boring movie. I wouldn't necessarily call it a snoozefest, but I definitely had a hard time paying attention. Everything here feels perfectly mediocre, nothing is overwhelmingly good, but nothing is overwhelmingly bad. The directing is pretty flat and lifeless. I wouldn't say that anything caught my eye or even peaked my interest. The writing is pretty decent, and there are some very good lines of dialogue. However, a lot of that dialogue is out of place. A character would say a very witty line, but it would really have no context for that particular scene. The acting is also decent, with Oscar Isaac being the highlight. Still, it was still pretty funny to hear him call literally every single living thing he meets "brother". With all that being said, 'Mojave' is extremely forgettable. I would personally not suggest it, on the basis that most who watch it will forget it within a week. A24 is honestly one of the best and most consistently good independent film companies working right now, so this was extremely disappointing coming from them.

Random is a term that gets bandied about quite a bit in this day and age but it's certainly the perfect word to describe The Departed and Kingdom of Heaven scribe William Monahan's second directional effort Mojave, a film that feels lost in its own self-worth and finds itself wondering along aimlessly through its 90 minute runtime to a conclusion that neither justifies or explains why we've been mistreated to this wannabe exposition of fame, internal demons and hamming it up Mark Wahlberg's.It's particularly random that Monaghan convinced one of the industry's current brightest stars in the form of Oscar Isaac to appear in this deranged cautionary tale and after a string of memorable films in the likes of A Most Violent Year and the excellent Ex_Machina, this is Isaacs first outright failure in sometime even though he certainly gives it his all as the menacing drifter Jack who haunts Garrett Hedlund's lead Tom from the dry plains to the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles.There was clearly hope here that Monahan could hide the implausibility's of his story that never delivers a realistic blow behind the one/two team up of Isaac and Hedlund going head to head and saying "brother" far too often but with Isaac relegated to a few brief moments of genuine menace and intrigue Hedlund's Hollywood big shot is a hard protagonist to get on board with and it's another lacking turn from the young actor that showed such great promise in early ventures like Friday Night Lights and Troy.The problem found within this central battle of Mojave isn't its only huge hurdle as the film also suffers from an identity crisis not unlike the one Hedlund's Tom is suffering within the narrative. Is the film a sombre examination of tormented artists? A dark comedy skewering the Hollywood lifestyle? There questions Monahan and his team no doubt pondered but didn't have the skill set to answer and the films blurred vision is something that will deter many a viewer from enjoying what's laid before them.An extremely disappointing experience that wastes the considerable talents of Isaac in a try hard plot that wants to say a lot and ends up saying nothing, Mojave is an utterly forgettable film that no one deserves to be put through and a career low point for the usually trustworthy Monahan.1 "brother" out of 5