Before I go any further, I'd like to point out that I once had a neighbor who lived next door that nearly drove me mad (much like the Joyce, the lead character, in the film). So with that context in mind, I was intrigued by the premise of this film.
So the film kicks off with Joyce, in a nutshell, looking for some peace and quiet following some great turmoil in her life. Fast forward (because you won't miss anything) a bit and you eventually see Joyce run into Charlotte, her upstairs neighbor that has a propensity for making loud noises late at night and early in the morning...forcing Joyce to lose some much needed sleep, and at times, her sanity.
Not to give away too much, but the rest of the film is about her conflict with Charlotte, and eventually, finding a final solution to her ongoing problems.
The premise of the film is interesting, and many people (like myself in NYC or other cities) can relate to being driven mad by bad neighbors. However, the script moves at a snail's pace. It's not that I can't enjoy slow films, but the resolution of each new element of drama often is left unresolved, or is unsatisfying given the amount of patience we need to reach it. One example - Joyce inexplicably has sexual encounters with random men, or kisses a good friend out of nowhere. But none of this leads has any relevance to her conflict with Charlotte.
Throughout the movie, we see her lose more sleep, drink more and more, and have hallucinations. But because of a meandering script and terrible character development (we know Joyce is miserable, but does she HAVE to be miserable every time we see her?) - in the end you really don't CARE if she's suffering or not. By the end, I really couldn't care if Joyce died, Charlotte died, or both killed each other in a pool of blood. I give the actors credit for dealing with a screenplay that's all over the place, but in the end, you just don't really care about what happens - especially if the cute lead actress spends the whole movie looking angry, tired (or a combination of both).
It's a shame because the movie had a good premise and a lot of potential.
So the film kicks off with Joyce, in a nutshell, looking for some peace and quiet following some great turmoil in her life. Fast forward (because you won't miss anything) a bit and you eventually see Joyce run into Charlotte, her upstairs neighbor that has a propensity for making loud noises late at night and early in the morning...forcing Joyce to lose some much needed sleep, and at times, her sanity.
Not to give away too much, but the rest of the film is about her conflict with Charlotte, and eventually, finding a final solution to her ongoing problems.
The premise of the film is interesting, and many people (like myself in NYC or other cities) can relate to being driven mad by bad neighbors. However, the script moves at a snail's pace. It's not that I can't enjoy slow films, but the resolution of each new element of drama often is left unresolved, or is unsatisfying given the amount of patience we need to reach it. One example - Joyce inexplicably has sexual encounters with random men, or kisses a good friend out of nowhere. But none of this leads has any relevance to her conflict with Charlotte.
Throughout the movie, we see her lose more sleep, drink more and more, and have hallucinations. But because of a meandering script and terrible character development (we know Joyce is miserable, but does she HAVE to be miserable every time we see her?) - in the end you really don't CARE if she's suffering or not. By the end, I really couldn't care if Joyce died, Charlotte died, or both killed each other in a pool of blood. I give the actors credit for dealing with a screenplay that's all over the place, but in the end, you just don't really care about what happens - especially if the cute lead actress spends the whole movie looking angry, tired (or a combination of both).
It's a shame because the movie had a good premise and a lot of potential.