This is How Movies Should Be Made

Sorry, this movie sucks

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

This film has some plot trick that seem hardly understandable to some. The only one problem is that how could the crazy son predict, that the father will win a Nobel prize, or how could he plot the kidnapping (which is a good plot) within the interval between naming the Nobel laureate and actually presenting the prize. OK, he was spying on the family for long time, and the single molecular spectroscopy was a Nobel-worth idea, bu no one can ever guess, when such a work gets the actual prize (if it gets at all).All the other strange things, like the suffering wife (who does not actually seem suffering beside her husband, until their son is kidnapped, these egoistic guys can be very magnetic in their ways), the changing of the less crazy son while being kidnapped (the more crazy son manages to turn him against the already not much liked father by showing some convincing and less convincing proofs of the father's evilness (by the way, the handwritings are the less convincing facts, they can easily be made up)), the lack of make up after the kidnapping (realistic), or the evil son"s killing the neighbour (1. convincing the police, that the neighbour was the kidnapper, 2. if this does not come in, convincing the police that the less crazy son was his own kidnapper + getting the place above the garage, which is the first step for getting his place in his father's heart and wiping the other son out of it totally), etc. can be easily followed, if wanted. It seems that there were mostly two kinds of reviewers, those who liked the music and wanted to understand, and those, who didn't. Anyway, for having such extreme opinions, it must be a fairly good film.It is clear, that the writers don't understand much in chemistry (in university professor level, no one would be so satisfied with a used car dealer, who knows, what size the molecules are, that they would invite him to their lab), but the plot and the filming is disturbing enough to be worth watching. The ending is not well developed, it is true.The reference to cannibalism is beautiful, it is true, that such a man (all kinds of genies, and this professor was a kind of genius, even is not in single molecule spectroscopy) can "eat" his family alive, and at the end he is eaten alive by his suppressed son, when the reference returns.

First off, I was sucked into the movie. I mention this, because so few movies grab my attention.I think the acting was pretty good. Ever since Die Hard, I always liked the actor who played the father. The son was perfectly fine as well. I really liked City Hall, but the plot called for little of her. I think the mom could have shown a little more emotion, but otherwise solid. Really, I can't criticize the acting here.The plot was not particularly innovative, but had a few interesting tweaks.The camera work seemed pretty standard. I think the modern technique calls for a lot more camera movement, which I don't always care for.Parts of the movie were a bit disturbing. That's a personal thing, and what I found disturbing, others may have found amusing.My main complaint was that the movie seemed to shift a bit late in the movie. It felt like they ran out of time and had to cram a ton of stuff into the last 30 minutes. It wasn't that I was lost. I followed the story. But it was a bit unsatisfying. Had the final 30 minutes of the film been more solid, I think maybe I would have given it a 6 out of 10.

Although funny at times, I could not get myself to care about a character or a plot development. Apparently the mistreated son is our hero, though he certainly does not seem deserving of praise or reward. So obviously and early do we understand Dad is to receive his come-up-pence that we really don't care when it happens. Most annoying was evil son's unexplained transformation from a terror to a wimp, or mom's change into a vindictive spouse. Bill Pullman appears confused about his role, playing it as over-the-top corny. Absolutely awful ending. Without the occasional laugh, would've been a complete bomb. With tone and script changes, this could've been much better.

Movies today, are good. I enjoy what they have become, but the art has slowly dripped out of films with a few exceptions. This is definitely one of them. I was very happy with my choice to see this one, having not heard of it I went in not knowing what to expect. I felt that way until the closing credits. It was a fantastic movie of ups and downs and twists and turns, that kept me guessing. The superb acting of the veterans like Alan Rickman, Mary Steenburgen, Danny DeVito, and Bill Pullman. Eliza Dushku continues to excite her audience and prove herself on the screen. Bryan Greenberg and Shawn Hatosy have done great jobs recently and I look forward to seeing them more often. I hope Randall Miller continues his run of good movies after Bottle Shock and Nobel Son, I'm left wanting more!