Well after watching this film, i was left a bit confused really. Half of me was saying "there is something meaningful in this story" and the other half of me was saying "this story sucks, it had no relevant meaning to......anything".
The film starts with Robert De Niro's character threatening his wife to kill their daughter if she leaves him. Then it immediately fast forwards 20-30 years with his wife and him together meaning that his threat worked and she stayed with him.
Enter Stone (aka Edward Norton). Stone wants to get out of prison. He was convicted of aiding murder by burning his grandparents house (and his dead grandparents).
De Niro works in the jail house as an "approval of release" guy. Basically if he thinks someone has been rehabilitated, then he writes his report to his superiors and they decide whether or not to release someone.
Stone and De Niro get talking and Stone desperately wants to get out of prison, so he sends his wife to De Niro. She basically seduces De Niro and he ultimately writes the approval.
In the mean time, Stone keeps talking with De Niro, and he finds a religion that basically makes his desperation go away. Somewhere along the lines, the tables turn, Stone is freed, and De Niro is now having a bad time with his life.
The result is that he loses nearly everything, his wife hates him and he has no job and no friends.
Now this is the point of the story i don't think made any impact at all. You have a hard working guy who works all his life that made a mistake with his wife (and his daughter). Then you have a convicted criminal who burnt his grandparents and spent time in jail.
By the end of the film, it seems like you are made to want to like Stone and want to hate De Niro.
I get it. I really do. I get what they were trying to do with the film - Two people did two separately morally wrong acts. One of them was sent to jail, the other spent his life working.
I just don't see the point of trying to make the convicted criminal out to be the good guy, and the hard worker out to be the bad guy. Pointless. It just didn't work.
De Niro and Norton gave very good performances, as did the rest of the actors and actresses, but the plot of the film just sucked. Big time. It barely made it clear what the point of the film was, and the point it was trying to make just wasn't.......right.
The film starts with Robert De Niro's character threatening his wife to kill their daughter if she leaves him. Then it immediately fast forwards 20-30 years with his wife and him together meaning that his threat worked and she stayed with him.
Enter Stone (aka Edward Norton). Stone wants to get out of prison. He was convicted of aiding murder by burning his grandparents house (and his dead grandparents).
De Niro works in the jail house as an "approval of release" guy. Basically if he thinks someone has been rehabilitated, then he writes his report to his superiors and they decide whether or not to release someone.
Stone and De Niro get talking and Stone desperately wants to get out of prison, so he sends his wife to De Niro. She basically seduces De Niro and he ultimately writes the approval.
In the mean time, Stone keeps talking with De Niro, and he finds a religion that basically makes his desperation go away. Somewhere along the lines, the tables turn, Stone is freed, and De Niro is now having a bad time with his life.
The result is that he loses nearly everything, his wife hates him and he has no job and no friends.
Now this is the point of the story i don't think made any impact at all. You have a hard working guy who works all his life that made a mistake with his wife (and his daughter). Then you have a convicted criminal who burnt his grandparents and spent time in jail.
By the end of the film, it seems like you are made to want to like Stone and want to hate De Niro.
I get it. I really do. I get what they were trying to do with the film - Two people did two separately morally wrong acts. One of them was sent to jail, the other spent his life working.
I just don't see the point of trying to make the convicted criminal out to be the good guy, and the hard worker out to be the bad guy. Pointless. It just didn't work.
De Niro and Norton gave very good performances, as did the rest of the actors and actresses, but the plot of the film just sucked. Big time. It barely made it clear what the point of the film was, and the point it was trying to make just wasn't.......right.