Posted on 12/13/2023 8:33:06 AM PST by jimjohn
Leave The World Behind - A Free Republic Movie Review
By J. Johnson
When I read the first reviews from this forum it appears that most folks couldn't get past the executive producers (who shall not be named in this article). My thought was well at least someone has to watch it to give an honest review and take on this movie. So last night, I decided to “ take one for the team”, and donate 2 hours and 21 minutes of my life that I’ll never get back. Here goes…
Before grading, let’s start with that infamous line in the movies that you’ve all heard (paraphrasing), “You can’t trust anyone - especially white people”. Now, this is in no way defending this movie, but the criticism of that line is the book definition of taking something out of context. Without doing the ‘spoiler alert’ thing, the statement needs to be looked at in the context of the current situation in that movie at that time; which by the way becomes a virtually moot point later in the first. With that said, if my fellow Real Americans wanted to trash this moving, we can do so long before that line is even uttered.
Three things that stood out to me the most from this film:
a) too many musical scores in the beginning and they were too loud.
b) the too obvious LACK of extras in the film (e.g., you can't hit a beach on Long Island on a hot summer day where there is not a crowd). This movie revolved around 7 characters. The only extras I recall seeing are a little girl peeking through a window, and a woman that did not speak English. (a translation would have been nice, but I got the point with what little Spanish I could extract from her desperation).
c) Somehow, it appears this movie seems to either cut off before it should have, or someone edited the plot in post production. Perhaps budget cuts? A rush to get it out the door?
Example: There were several ‘acts’ in the movie, including one called ‘The Flood’. But I saw no flood. Perhaps I was mistaken.
The movie starts with this author deliberately covering the screen during the pre-movie credits so I would not see the names of the executive producers. What follows is that 2 seasoned actors (Juila Roberts & Ethan Hawke) decide to take their 2 foul-mouthed children to a house rental on or near a Long Island beach for a quick planned getaway. Shortly thereafter, all hell breaks loose. They later meet the character played by Mahershala Ali, which is pretty much where the movie truly begins.
Among the criticisms was the woke messaging throughout the movie, examples of which included the so-called ‘racist’ character played by Julia Roberts. I can say that I did not detect any racism in the movie, but a healthy distrust among all the adult characters in the beginning. But then again, with the networks down, no information coming through, and you’re in an unknown environment, the natural tendency is to become untrustworthy until trust can be gained, which did occur during the movie.
In fact, as far as any racist angle, there were a couple scenes in the movie among the adults where a viewer would begin to ask, “hey, where is this going?”. In other words - just the opposite of racism. Without going into detail, I would guess these were the points in the movie that included heavy script edits (giggle).
For an apocalyptic movie, this one was pretty soft. They were not in the cities, and had no visible signs of mass chaos. Yes, there was an issue with Tesla Motors, but no one pointed a finger at the company’s CEO, just the driverless technology. Clearly, the movie was not anti-gun.
Overall, I’d give the movie a C; mainly for the overhyping of a low budget movie that left gaping, unexplained holes (e.g. internet goes down, but not the power grids) . And if there were any ‘woke’ lessons I could take from this movie, here they are:
My wife and I watched it last night after listening to the review given on the PBD Podcast. So we knew some of the spoilers prior to watching. I also read the previous FR thread.
The ship and the airliner crashing scenes make no sense what so ever UNLESS the crew was incapacitated.
Yes, airlines fly a computer preprogrammed flight path. Just as does an oil tanker. However, the flight crew and the ships crew can take it off auto pilot and steer the ship/jet in whatever direction they want.
The young black woman’s character was unlikeable. As was the white mother and white father. The kids were both spoiled self consumed brats. The ONLY characters that I liked were the Black father and the prepper(Kevin Bacon).
Of course, the prepper was the “bad guy” because he was a White hick, Dallas Cowboys fan, who had guns, was buying cases of bottled water and probably had plenty of food and ammunition. However, he was also a nice guy for giving them medicine and telling them about the doomsday bunker in their neighbors basement.
The part with all the Teslas crashing into each other on the expressway was the best part of the movie. I actually Laughed Out Loud and applauded.
The scenes with the deer becoming aggressive absolutely makes no sense. Deer are flight animals. The only time they stand and fight is during the rut. When they are fighting over a doe in heat.
I do not Speak Spanish. So, the woman on the side of the road made no sense to me. Except, she needed help and he did not want to give it.
FYI, I have seen enough of these “end of the world” shows that you never stop for the woman by the side of the road. It is ALWAYS a trap. There are always her compadres hiding that are going to steal your car and leave you for dead. Or just kill you outright. Don’t stop the car. “Don’t ever get out of the boat”.
I LIKED THE ENDING. The girl was going to be OKAY. Her mom was going to find her. Her useless dad and the Hero smart sexy Black man was going to return. The white Mom would eventually marry the Black man once her useless husband got killed by all the marauding evil white men carrying their AR-15s. The Black girl would eventually marry the toothless white boy. The young girl will eventually take over as the Lesbian leader of the Free Peoples of the USA.
If the boy survived he was going to eventually marry the Black girl.
FR movie review! What a great idea. BTT for now.
Thank you for the review.
A co-worker was raving about it to me yesterday.
What about the Obama “Obey” t-shirt on the teen boy in the shed scene?
bump
“He is in the movie but in a smaller role.”
I picked up on that as I read through the comments. Thanks.
Wow. One has to want to be offended to make those observations.
I watched this. Star headliners in a plot without any direction or final reveal. IOW, bad writing. From the awkward first meeting of the black home owner and an obviously apparent black-fear character (Roberts) to the incapable husband (Hawke).
Events just happen - all unexplained. Roberts in one scene ends up hugging the black homeowner while hubby is off somewhere...?(this was needed why????) Son loses his teeth, EVs just drive by themselves and crash all on the same road and smoke and fire and explosions. All of it. And no answers at all.
Reminded me of an M. Night Shyamalan movie but his movies are usually interesting until the big reveal at the end which ruin the whole thing. This movie just sucked the whole way through.
Here’s the thing....they hooked Roberts and Hawke into it even though it’s a lousy plot so they did the next best thing. Make is scary and unimaginable requiring the viewer to take on the responsibility of providing the worst fears and possible outcomes. And then, the last episode header of “Friends.”
What’s not to like?
Yes he was in it.
“..Roberts in one scene ends up hugging the black homeowner while hubby is off somewhere...”
Yeah, that was one of my “hey, where is this going?” references.
I made those observations and am not the least bit offended. It's from my English lit background and this piece was derived from a novel. I think the the black actors were excellent and I don't presume an agenda by the producers or writers, but there is clearly racial subtext. I wish more media were like this, because it evokes thought and questions.
There are a few shots composed where we see his "obey" and her "nasa". Not sure what that might mean, if anything at all, but I'm certain there was purpose.
Per your animal comment, I addressed that... However, I don't have a read on the Pink Flamingos other than the Florida tropical climate encroaching on New York, so it might be more climate change insinuation.
My final thought
The ending had to do with “we don’t really have a good plot so we’re gonna be wildly cryptic and let the viewer’s imagination and fears do all the work.”
I watched it last week and agree with you. I enjoyed it as an end of the world as we know it, but that was the extent of it.
I don't get into hidden "messages" when I watch such movies. I just watch them for entertainment......
But since you brought up Netflix, I just finished watching the series “Night Agent” and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was kind of a mellowed down version of “24”......
More then that, learn how to use them.
Take every first aid, first responder, battle field medicine course you can. Make sure as many people in your group do so as well.
Oh and there are a bunch of things you can gather from the wild and grow in your garden that work as medicine. Learn, what they are, how to prep them and when and how to use them.
I will not be watching this (we have one night a month that is ours and watching a C movie would waste it) so thank you for the review.
I didn’t verify your list but did look up the White Lion, your claim on that is true.
You should tell us at what point the other mentions show up in the movie so that we can check them out.
Here is another thread where I just posted about the White Lion.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4203505/posts?page=17#17
Someone on Instagram says that there are a lot of demonic symbols throughout the movie. Just saying.
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