Just got back home after seeing this new film at Pittsburgh’s historic Manor Theatre. I liked it, but then I’ve liked every film Soderbergh has ever made, even Schizopolis (1996). The screenplay was written by Ed Solomon, who is probably best known for Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1996). It stars up-and-coming actress Michaela Coel who succeeds in holding her own up against the great Ian McKellen.
It is an interesting kind of a thriller, with no chase scenes and no gunshots. All of Soderbergh’s films are thrillers of one kind or another, but this one keeps you guessing about which kind of thriller it is. At the end, has any crime been committed? Has any theft occurred? Have any lies been told?
Well (spoiler alert) yes, many lies are told in this film, but most of them are not the things you expect to be lies and some of them (like in Ocean’s 11) are of course lies that are told to you, the audience. Since this is also a story about art and artists, it has to be a story about lies. As Magritte taught us, any image is a lie. Are we seeing what we think we are seeing? Are the people who they pretend to be? When is a lie not a lie? If Pierre Menard re-writes Don Quixote, is the result Cervantes’, or Menard’s?
When we’re gone, will we be reviled for every nasty thing we have ever said or done, or will we be revived in the memories of those who love us for every kind wish we have ever expressed?
Anyway, sorry to say that today is the last day of this film’s run at the Manor. We meant to see it last week when it opened, but I accidentally bought tickets for closing day instead. You still have time! Don’t wait until Monday, or it will be gone.
