The word “review” feels a little harsh (especially when the negatives end up out-waying the positives), so here are my spoiler free, ‘thoughts” on Greta, and it’s cross eyed take on the stalker thriller.
Young 20 something Frances (Chloe Grace Moretz) dealing with the death of her mother, befriends another matriarchal figure, and title character, Greta (Isabelle Huppert). Things get weird, and Isabelle get’s stalky.
I actually love this idea, but the execution didn’t land for me. But not because of the direction. Neil Jordan can direct the heck out of some sinister melodrama (maybe to a fault, but we’ll get to that in a second).
I loved the way the movie looked, that’s in no small way due to cinematographer Seamus McGarvey. I’ve read my share of director interviews, and listened to enough commentaries to know that McGarvey is a (not so) secret weapon in Hollywood. Directors love this guy and so do I. He masterfully accentuates Anna Rackard’s evocative production design.
I thought the music was effectively unsettling, which is what Jordan was going for. However the bombastic musical emphasis was used to accentuate laughable moments of very minor character and plot reveals. Imagine walking into a fast food restaurant and… “I’ll have the number three with no pickles…” DUN DUN DUN!!!!
Okay, maybe not that silly, but silly enough that I laughed out loud at least twice.
I’m guessing Jordan was doing this on purpose, poking some fun at genre films, but even at that, I think he missed the mark with the script. All the dialogue between Frances and her best friend/roommate Erica (Maika Monroe) sound like an old man’s contemptuous perception of how young women talk. Major plot points rest upon characters acting way out of character in order to move the story forward. Specific institutions like restaurants (and possibly law enforcement) act in a manner that they would never actually act. People just seem to do things because “Movie!” In fact, looking at the plot points that drive the story forward, I’m not convinced this movie didn’t grow out of someone daring Jordan and co-writer Ray Write, to take a random Disney sitcom episode and turn it into a feature length thriller (seriously, watch it and tell me you don’t see it).
Having said all that- the final act of the movie had me engaged and compelled which countered some of the aforementioned red flags.
I thought generally the cast was fine. It’s hard to tell when they’ve got unnatural words in their mouths, and inane motives in their bones. And, I know she’s a big deal, but It wasn’t until the final 20ish minutes that I finally appreciated why Isabella Huppert was in this movie. Up to that point I wasn’t totally convinced she knew what she was doing there.
Some more random thoughts as I watched;
“A land line, really? Are those a thing again, or is because old men wrote the script?”
“This movie feels a little hateful.”
“Steven Rea is underused in this film.”
“Zawe Ashton has a killer American accent.”
This movie was clearly built with an international audience in mind. It was filmed (at least partially) in the U.S. and is written in English, but I still can’t help but wonder if, for me, something was lost in the translation.
After the Tarantino/Rodriguez Grindhouse offering back in 2007, I had to put my foot down, “It doesn’t matter if a movie is bad on purpose or on accident, it’s still bad.” While I wouldn’t say the entirety of Greta was bad I would say “Whether you make your script bad on purpose or on accident, it’s still bad.”
I give the movie a C-, but don’t take my word for it, check it out yourself and let me know what you think. (Joshua Childs)