Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Collection; here's the breakdown of my ratings:
Story: 1.25 Direction: 1.25 Pace: 1.00 Acting: 1.25 Enjoyment: 1.25
TOTAL: 6 out of 10.00
Collection is one of those Slices Of Life drama's that you either like or don't. It takes the stories of a selected group of characters. In this case, the binding ingredient is a self-help book entitled Reach Me. Someone or three in the distinctive parties have been affected by the words of wisdom, and as such, it has or is in the process of changing their lives for the better - we're all happy endings here.
And that is one of the principal flaws with the story, which is the greatest hindrance to the picture. It's nice to have happy endings, but granting everyone the pleasure of a positive outcome is unrealistic. I'm not saying it never happens, but a story should give an even balance to the events and represent life as we know it. At the very least, the cop should be suspended from service for knocking out the teeth of a sexual predator of an actor - though he fully deserved more. And with the number of pistols on display at the finale, someone should have wound up accidentally dead - because accidents happen, as does crap. John Herzfeld does give the audience an engaging cast of individuals. Though, some of these don't achieve believability. The cop, Wolfie, is seven shades of wrong. He believes he should feel guilt at killing so many people - forty-six-and-a-half - however, he doesn't. And even though he goes to confession, there's one scene where he states the dead were bad guys and deserved it. If he genuinely believes both, he should be showing conflict, but once again, he isn't. He's just glib, self-assured, and cocky. However, the priest he harasses is perfectly written and does have a conflict with the cop and the correctness of his killings, to the point of testing his religious conviction. Another unrealistic person is the gangster, Frank. He's too stereotypical, and being so he's been done better a million times before and after, just pick up a Mario Puzo novel. It's these pitfalls and a few other, more trivial ones, like the actual cure of anything - shout out the opposite of what your encumbrance or crutch is while standing looking out over the water - that create an air of idealism, which isn't ideal for this type of movie. The cure is actually a form of self-hypnosis. Tell yourself enough times and with conviction, and you may change your mindset on the matter. It's like a professional liar who, after lying to one person, constantly parrots the lie in their head until it has a ring of truth and can pass a polygraph. But it's definitely nowt new.
Herzfeld also directs his story and, for the most part, does a decent enough job. He utilises a standard point-and-shoot style as this is the best method to allow the story and its myriad of characters leeway to sell themselves. However, he does get a tad imaginative at moments. One of the best is the Bank Robbery. He films this as though it were a western shoot-out at high noon, and due to the cunning twist, it kinda is. It's one of my favourite scenes in the movie. As he does with the cinematography, he also does with the pacing. He keeps an average flow to the storytelling, once again allowing both story and characters to do the entertaining.
Which brings us to the excellent cast. With a roll call of so many A-listers, it would be difficult to make a bad movie. Though the characters may be off or the situations a mite unrealistic, the actors and actresses give their all, and there are no small parts in this picture. The two characters I mentioned above, Copper Wolfie and Gangster Frank, are the two that suffer the worst. However, I can't lay the blame at Thomas James' or Tom Sizemore's feet as the characters are poorly written, and Herzfeld doesn't help with them in the direction either.
That said, I would happily recommend Collection for one viewing, especially on a wet Sunday afternoon. It's a watchable and enjoyable movie, even with its many pitfalls, thanks to the plethora of individuals on offer and the performers portraying them.
Please feel free to visit my Dramatisation Of Life lists to see where I ranked Collection.
Take Care & Stay Well.
Story: 1.25 Direction: 1.25 Pace: 1.00 Acting: 1.25 Enjoyment: 1.25
TOTAL: 6 out of 10.00
Collection is one of those Slices Of Life drama's that you either like or don't. It takes the stories of a selected group of characters. In this case, the binding ingredient is a self-help book entitled Reach Me. Someone or three in the distinctive parties have been affected by the words of wisdom, and as such, it has or is in the process of changing their lives for the better - we're all happy endings here.
And that is one of the principal flaws with the story, which is the greatest hindrance to the picture. It's nice to have happy endings, but granting everyone the pleasure of a positive outcome is unrealistic. I'm not saying it never happens, but a story should give an even balance to the events and represent life as we know it. At the very least, the cop should be suspended from service for knocking out the teeth of a sexual predator of an actor - though he fully deserved more. And with the number of pistols on display at the finale, someone should have wound up accidentally dead - because accidents happen, as does crap. John Herzfeld does give the audience an engaging cast of individuals. Though, some of these don't achieve believability. The cop, Wolfie, is seven shades of wrong. He believes he should feel guilt at killing so many people - forty-six-and-a-half - however, he doesn't. And even though he goes to confession, there's one scene where he states the dead were bad guys and deserved it. If he genuinely believes both, he should be showing conflict, but once again, he isn't. He's just glib, self-assured, and cocky. However, the priest he harasses is perfectly written and does have a conflict with the cop and the correctness of his killings, to the point of testing his religious conviction. Another unrealistic person is the gangster, Frank. He's too stereotypical, and being so he's been done better a million times before and after, just pick up a Mario Puzo novel. It's these pitfalls and a few other, more trivial ones, like the actual cure of anything - shout out the opposite of what your encumbrance or crutch is while standing looking out over the water - that create an air of idealism, which isn't ideal for this type of movie. The cure is actually a form of self-hypnosis. Tell yourself enough times and with conviction, and you may change your mindset on the matter. It's like a professional liar who, after lying to one person, constantly parrots the lie in their head until it has a ring of truth and can pass a polygraph. But it's definitely nowt new.
Herzfeld also directs his story and, for the most part, does a decent enough job. He utilises a standard point-and-shoot style as this is the best method to allow the story and its myriad of characters leeway to sell themselves. However, he does get a tad imaginative at moments. One of the best is the Bank Robbery. He films this as though it were a western shoot-out at high noon, and due to the cunning twist, it kinda is. It's one of my favourite scenes in the movie. As he does with the cinematography, he also does with the pacing. He keeps an average flow to the storytelling, once again allowing both story and characters to do the entertaining.
Which brings us to the excellent cast. With a roll call of so many A-listers, it would be difficult to make a bad movie. Though the characters may be off or the situations a mite unrealistic, the actors and actresses give their all, and there are no small parts in this picture. The two characters I mentioned above, Copper Wolfie and Gangster Frank, are the two that suffer the worst. However, I can't lay the blame at Thomas James' or Tom Sizemore's feet as the characters are poorly written, and Herzfeld doesn't help with them in the direction either.
That said, I would happily recommend Collection for one viewing, especially on a wet Sunday afternoon. It's a watchable and enjoyable movie, even with its many pitfalls, thanks to the plethora of individuals on offer and the performers portraying them.
Please feel free to visit my Dramatisation Of Life lists to see where I ranked Collection.
Take Care & Stay Well.