Go back, Jack

Soudain le vide (Enter the void)

Crit

What the fuck?! How can this piece of doo be raking in 71% on Rotten Tomatoes, Top Critics and civilians both? If I read all the reviews I'd have my answer, and perhaps I'd understand that I'm just too dim to understand the wonderful things going on. But life, in stark contrast to this 143-minute film (which, damn! I could have streamed on Netflix!), is too short.

I'm sure that everyone who likes it mentions the swooping camerawork, which is, yeah, kinda interesting--like a sniffing dog, scrutinizing every hole--but the narrative is from hunger. In the early going, it seems to be about Drugs, Sex, and Death; then it seems more about Drugs, Death, and Sex; then Death, Drugs, and Sex; then Sex closes with a thrust, making the final trifecta Death, Sex, and Drugs. Each of those topics is capable of being fascinating, of course. None is here. And since there's only one marginally appealing character, and he's marginal . . . well, I didn't walk out (half the audience of six did, but too late to really salvage much of the wasted time), but I thought about it repeatedly.

Something has to be the worst film I see every year; I pray that this front-runner wins the 2011 prize.