Movies Reviews

We Need to Talk About Kevin – Movie Review 2

By Ron Wilkinson Jan 21, 2012, 13:38 GMT

Based on the novel about a boy who goes on a killing spree two days before he turns 16. This leads his parents to question whether they are to blame for his actions. ...more

Great performances within a very depressing story. Do not look for the light at the end of the tunnel.

If not the greatest film of the year, “We Need to Talk About Kevin” is, at least, the most depressing. Unfortunately, it is also the greatest performance of Tilda Swinton’s life and one of the greatest for the legendary John C. Reilly has ever put out, as well.

The Golden Globes folded on that issue and awarded Best Actress to Meryl Streep’s impersonation of Margate Thatcher in that biopic hash-up. George Clooney walked away with it for his role in the humdrum “Descendants. Yes, Streep was good. However, she was not as good as Swinton in this film. Not near as good.

The reason Swinton (and J.C. Reilly) did not get the award was that nobody had the guts to stick it out for the full 112 minutes of this heartbreaking masterpiece. All right, the real reason is that the Globes could not bear to issue a prestigious award to a film nobody in their right mind would spend their Saturday night out to see. The viewer would head back to work Monday more depressed than when they left Friday.

The heavy lifting is done by Tilda Swinton as mom Eva Khatchadourian, John C. Reilly as dad Franklin and Ezra Miller as Kevin in his annoying teenage years. Dad Franklin thinks some good healthy teenage toys will snap Kevin out of his funk.

Neither parent grasps the possibility that seventeen years of nearly uninterrupted depression, mal-intent and non-communication might be a signal for serious counseling. In fact, it might be a signal for locking the kid up. Like all parents, they want to see the best in Kevin and they ignore the obvious truth.

Reilly and Miller have about the same combined screen time as Swinton. She clearly is in control of this movie. Director / co-screenwriter Lynne Ramsay and co-screenwriter Rory Kinnear pile into Lionel Shriver’s novel with a vengeance trying to cram too many pages into too little screen time.

The result is a success because Swinton and Reilly immolate themselves on screen. Few actors of any stripe, commanding even the highest degree of skill, would go through what they must have gone through for this film.
The upshot is that they need to talk about Kevin, but they never do.

Dad Franklin is constantly trying to buy the elephant out of the room and leaving when the going gets rough. Mom Eva cannot accept what she is seeing before her very eyes. This is awe-inspiring acting in that Swinton is able to portray a parent acting incredibly obtuse on the one hand and acting exactly as we would on the other.

The result is a never-ending paradox that the viewer struggles to reconcile but which can never be reconciled. In the end, there is no rational explanation for anything that happens. The only explanation, beautifully irrational, is the unreasoning love that a mother has for her son.

The mother’s love for her son is amplified by the contrasting, irrational and downright vicious hatred that the town’s people have for Eva. This is the part of the film that is hard to swallow. It is hard to believe that people would torture a fellow human being for something over which the person had no control. In actual fact, it is hard to say.

So few of us have ever been there, and lived to tell the tale. It is more interesting, still, that the townspeople come out in force to condemn but lay back when they could have been opening the eyes of the parents, who could see no wrong.

Director Lynne Ramsay has accomplished a major leap forward with this, only her third, feature film as director/writer (co-writer). It is her first feature film since her similarly guilt-ridden “Morvern Callar” in 2002 and the stunning “Ratcatcher a few years before that. She takes her time but every movie is a masterpiece. Great original music by Jonny Greenwood who cut his teeth on “There Will be Blood” and so was ready for this barnburner.

In a similar vein, Tilda Swinton might have taken a page or two from Daniel Day Lewis’ playbook in prepping for her performance. Seamus McGarvey provided the DP skills and his work in this film is every bit as angst laden as his previous multi-award winning, Oscar nominated gem “Atonement.”

A must see for Swinton fans but be prepared to talk about it, afterword.

Visit the movie database for more information.

Directed by: Lynne Ramsay
Written by: Lynne Ramsay and Rory Kinnear (screenplay) and Lionel Shriver (Novel)
Starring: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly and Ezra Miller
Release Date: January 13, 2012
MPAA: Rated R for disturbing violence and behavior, some sexuality and language
Running Time: 112 Minutes
Country: UK / USA
Language: English
Color: Color