Polite Society (2023)

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1. 

   Siskoid

   Man, Nida Manzoor really goes for her culture's tradition of arranged marriages in Polite Society - women are ultimately supposed to give up their ambitions and become wombs for children who will be molded by the family's matriarch. Or at least that's Ria's fear when her sister falls for a young doctor/mamma's boy, and since the teenager would-be stuntwoman sees the world as an action film (it's how the angst is translated, kung fu where other movies might have done a musical), that might be really happening. The fight choreography is only so-so, but there's a real sense of fun to the enterprise, with Ria's school friends particularly hilarious as they help her on her capers to prove the fiancé and his mother are up to no good, if not outright supervillains. The jokes land, fun soundtrack, great-looking frocks, a Bollywood number, and a very nice relationship between the sisters. I'm there for it. 8 months 2 weeks ago
2. 

   KuroSawWhat

   Too zany to take seriously.
   Not zany enough to make an impact.
   
   A lot of the humor in this one fell flat, with a combination of absurdist character acting and very mundane, unambitious directing. It never felt like the film was picking up steam, and I felt like I had missed part of a first act where the close sisterly bond and the hopes and dreams of the two lead characters were shown prior to their being put to the test.
   
   We were told some of these things in dialog, but not shown. (Film Rule #1: SHOW, don't tell) Example: Apparently the big sister is passionate about making art.. but we never SEE her creating art, looking at art, or talking about how much she likes art. It's a conflict point which is pulled out of thin air and is meant to have emotional weight, but was never developed.
   
   For a good portion of the film I felt a strong dislike for the lead character. Her delinquent sister started seeing a seemingly nice guy from a nice family and she hate, hate, hates this because.. why, exactly?? Between the script which could have used more development and the very stilted direction, something felt off for the entire runtime of film.
   
   To make a comparison, I grew up watching Jim Varney in the Ernest P. Worrell film series. I loved those movies! They were full of absurd humor, goofy characters, and a wild director: John R. Cherry III. John directed them all. Except for one.. the worst one.. "Ernest Goes to School".. Although its Director, Coke Sams, had been a long-time Producer on the series, he couldn't quite nail the Ernest style as a Director, and the whole film felt wrong and not very funny. Watching Polite Society reminded me of watching Ernest Goes to School, waiting to laugh.
   
   The actresses did great work with what they were given, but what they were given just didn't come together very well. 1 year ago

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