Ever since Matt Damon stopped showing his hand-to-hand combat, I've become less inclined to see him. After watching the new film "The Promised Land", which he wrote and starred in, I felt that the former agent Byrne had become a soup treasure. Three bowls of water were boiled and two ingredients were added, and Damon was put in and stirred. , a bowl of pretending Hollywood chicken soup for the soul is out of the pot.
In "The Promised Land", Matt Damon and his colleagues go to the countryside to acquire natural gas on behalf of a large company. Naturally, big companies are evil, and it is necessary to reverse right and wrong and cover up the truth just to gain profits. At the same time, the protagonist must struggle, and in the end, he must be a hero when his conscience discovers and exposes the facts. Moreover, there are even more vulgar, how can it be less to hold the beauty back. Seeing that his good buddy Ben Affleck has successively contributed three-step high-quality films of "Missing Baby", "The Thief in the City" and "Escape from Tehran", he has successfully won the Academy Award for Best Director. The brilliance of writing and directing. Damon is still tinkering with fast food soups like "My House Bought a Zoo" and "The Promised Land", which is really sad.
There is no suspense in the film, every plot and character appear in the right place at the right time, there are old experts who are hidden, there are young women who give up the prosperity and return to their hometown, and there are tit-for-tat environmentalists (the character's The setting is the only bright spot of the film, but it is also very old-fashioned), of course, the most important thing is that the protagonist has a kind heart and an unforgettable past. At the beginning, I had the mentality of looking at the Hollywood assembly line products when I was bored on the weekend. At least I could absorb some positive energy, but after stacking countless clichés, the film did not give a righteous ending, but insisted on putting the reality in a high profile. The ending smashed in front of the audience. As if a bowl of instant chicken soup bottomed out and the chef suddenly rushed out of the kitchen and threw the shark fins in front of you and shouted that there was no sale, no killing, I just want to ask gently: as for what. The big companies in the film finally won the mining rights, and the residents who lived here for generations received good compensation and escaped financial difficulties, but they also faced potential risks. If this is a documentary, it must be praised for its neutrality and objectivity. However, as a drama film that strives to create dramatic conflict in the early stage, such an ending can't help but be slightly out of touch. Maybe I shouldn't have watched it with the mentality of watching a standard Hollywood inspirational film at the beginning, but the film went into every cliché step by step, and the jump that tried to sublimate in the end became pale.
The biggest cliché in the film is Damon himself. From an ambitious sales elite to a conscientious fighter of justice, one step at a time, he is on the road that countless cliché ancestors have stepped on. You see, he met a beautiful, humorous and optimistic girl, and the girl gave up the prosperous city and returned to her hometown to work, teach and educate the five-good young man; there is also a knowledgeable, rich experience, love the country, and life mentor-type old doctor ; and all sorts of little people who fuel the flames. The most similar setting is Pixar's "Cars". As a cartoon, "Cars" has honestly completed its own work, firmly waving the banner of a positive and correct American outlook on life, beyond reproach. "The Promised Land" also attempts to wave this banner, but at the same time wants to criticize reality, and the final result is like a sick man raising the banner and calling for everyone to learn from him. Hey, who dares! So when Damon completed the redemption of his soul, left the company of all evil, embraced the beauty, and did not solve the problem that the film pretended to solve from the beginning, a huge question came out of my heart: so this is all Is it to pick up a girl? I have been criticizing the American-style bloody outlook on life in various justice blockbusters all the year round, but this is the first time I have seen such a bloody pickup girl's outlook on life. I can understand the unjust outlook on life of two people fighting against the world in "Heroes and Thieves", but I really can't look directly at Damon's "I tried my best, but nothing has changed, so let's be together" attitude towards life . If the attempt to show justice can be abandoned from the beginning, and the experience of a loser can be described in white, such an ending can still be regarded as a warm, happy line behind the dark cloud. Now it's like this, there is a feeling of "I took off my TM pants, show me this".
In an objective evaluation, "The Promised Land" wanted to say something, but also wanted to take into account the commerciality, but failed to have both. It's like trying to drive on a river, no matter how right you are, you can't get there. Finally, who can tell Matt Damon for me: You can have a snack too!
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