Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsA Refined Yet Slightly Unremarkable Film
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 August 2019
Side note: I believe we all know why a film with this title is consistently listed in Amazon's 'most popular' section. For this reason, I would like to point out that there is no nudity in this film, nor is that motivation where the value of the film comes from.
This film is excellently made, in all aspects. The acting from all four leads perfectly sells the characters, which themselves are expertly written. Each of the characters have depth and remain themselves, even when going through their compelling antithetical arcs. I can't say I'm much of a judge of directing or editing, but I remained engaged throughout and noticed a couple of clever uses of background music, which to me indicates strength in both regards.
Despite all of these strengths, nothing stunned me. Nitpicking, I could say that, in the dialogue, the characters largely stick to saying what they mean (or want to mean) barring when they're explicitly out to hurt people, which undercuts the otherwise flawless realism of the film. However, more to the point is that the characters don't make their own tough decisions. When making a tough decision, they almost always seem to choose based on advise given to them by other characters, rather than choosing by themselves. While this makes sense in the context of the relationships that the characters have, it means we don't see the characters be responsible for emotional weight nearly often enough.
It's very worth watching, but will never become one of my favourites.
