Despite it's rather inbetweeney rating here on IMDB, this movie is one of those that has gained a reputation for being sort of bad, but I think it's misunderstood.
A lot of people did not enjoy the child-movie tone mixed in with a lot of more "adult" elements (the lascivious Fred, the adultery, the emotional abuse...).
But I think this is a shallow criticism. The essence of this movie is a reflection on people reviving the inner child we keep locked up inside us to help them when they really need it. It's weird how as we grow into adults we become more obedient and less anarchic and lose our self esteem.
Fred is a bit much; he is a walking ball of obnoxiousness even if that is the point since he is a personification of the vulgarity of childhood; the id buried by the superego (am I being pretentious enough?) Yes, Fred can be hard to take but I think creatively this comes from a good place and is ultimately a rather life affirming story for the reasons I've put above.
Its world building is more than a little confusing and I'm not saying this is anything close to a masterpiece, nor does it really even exploit its full potential.
But I happily watched it in one sitting after reading about it on the "Bad movies wiki" even though it was like midnight. I watched it in one sitting.
Again, don't think it's an impressively clever movie but it's hard to make something truly original in its tone and style, and this managed it.
A lot of people did not enjoy the child-movie tone mixed in with a lot of more "adult" elements (the lascivious Fred, the adultery, the emotional abuse...).
But I think this is a shallow criticism. The essence of this movie is a reflection on people reviving the inner child we keep locked up inside us to help them when they really need it. It's weird how as we grow into adults we become more obedient and less anarchic and lose our self esteem.
Fred is a bit much; he is a walking ball of obnoxiousness even if that is the point since he is a personification of the vulgarity of childhood; the id buried by the superego (am I being pretentious enough?) Yes, Fred can be hard to take but I think creatively this comes from a good place and is ultimately a rather life affirming story for the reasons I've put above.
Its world building is more than a little confusing and I'm not saying this is anything close to a masterpiece, nor does it really even exploit its full potential.
But I happily watched it in one sitting after reading about it on the "Bad movies wiki" even though it was like midnight. I watched it in one sitting.
Again, don't think it's an impressively clever movie but it's hard to make something truly original in its tone and style, and this managed it.