The Greatest Hits
The Greatest Hits
The Greatest Hits: In case you are a nostalgic for the genre and are in the stunning romantic comedy that looks like off the 90s or early 2000s with all the nostalgic archetypes like widowed protagonist, the lost love who they dream about, a no-holds-barred best friend who speaks the truth, a hunky would-be lover who has a sexy sister who’s a cynical admirer, “The Greatest Hits” will satisfy most if not all the criteria set out by the statement.
The issue, in the end, of the day, is that you are bound to be quite cognizant of the boxes as they are ticked—the acting is almost flawless, but the box is always the same and the box is what is expected out of that character.
There is only one sparking figure complete with depth and across all three central scenarios, triangle permeating that a mature woman all occupied the primary developments including loss of her boyfriend, his ideal memory, and then a new guy in the grief counseling shoooo comes out much more alive, but unfortunately the performer than the role.
In “The Greatest Hits”, there’s plenty of ambition to go around, and perhaps, even a legacy. It seems that ten years ago, writer-director Ned Benson made a bold move with the film titled ‘The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby’, which told the same romantic narrative but from both perspectives of the lovebirds and got transformed into a hybrid, ‘Rashomon’ style storyline that had sub-titles that read, ‘His’, ‘Hers’ and ‘Them’ released in all three edited versions.
The new feature film possesses elements of ‘Slaughterhouse Five’ as the main character Harriet (portrayed by Lucy Boynton) goes back in time and space to her memories where she was with Max (James Gunn’s latest Superman, David Corenswet), her deceased lover, with an ease of a song that sparks that memory.
The major issue, for this particular audience, is that when the film finally goes for broke on its premise, which it does in a very methodical and science-like manner, we are almost at the conclusion of the story. Chung Chung-hoon’s scorching, lens-flare-y visuals, production design by Page Buckner that is thick and detail-oriented but always tasteful and never ostentatious, and the costumes by Olga Mill almost pull the film towards the edge of the sci-fi fable romance (some parts are like “Everything Everywhere All At Once” where Harriet gets sent off the deep end for a particular song and the film itself seems to be struggling violently in the projector) but do not seem to go that far at all to finish the film.
I wanted it to. I put that on the record here, which I shouldn’t have because it is not the right thing to do in terms of criticism, to penalize a film for not living up to particular expectations as opposed to appreciating the actual film, and what it is, does tend to be repetitive, and basic and so clean that there is not enough real life catnip to make the whole regrettable monotony entertaining.
Her DJ best friend Morris (Austin Crute) has been quite consistent in telling Harriet that she wallows in grief in a self destructive manner, which is true, and therefore she must get out of this mindset and move on because it has become a perverse form of comfort in which she is given the license to never change herself. As in, ‘Loss is eternal, but mourning is short-lived’ is the quote that the group lives by.
The best realistic dramas regarding bereavement are either filled with a rich anthropological knowledge on the hows and whys of an emotion, or alternatively, they possess the wonderful ability to portray them through heavily stylized and greatly-over-simplified screenwriting (most notably, science fiction and horror).
This one bumbles between the two extremes, unable to progress, develop, or make choices in the same way as Harriet does. To begin with, I would like to commend the movie for making the character’s neuroses the central plot of the story except the outcome is just an ambitious effort with a lot of tender feeling.
Elaborando un poquito más, Boynton aquí hace mucho con lo poco. En la propia voz de la actriz, el personaje se define casi en su totalidad por la muerte de alguno de los miembros de la pareja, que no es lo que nadie que haya perdido a un compañero querría, y por los mecanismos que utiliza para continuar con su vida, como el uso de auriculares con cancelación de ruido para no tener que escuchar canciones que le recuerden al fallecido, la reducción de su colección personal de discos en un intento de no caer en la zona de la tristeza, y así sucesivamente.
Es el amor de su vida, una abstracción. No se presenta el gran amor de su vida. Solo es posible establecer que fue un hombre muy atractivo, un músico que estaba enamorado de Harriet, cuyas grabaciones ella producía, y que, un poco más tarde, se presenta un detalle que podría ser más interesante para el desarrollo de la narrativa, aunque fue un egoísta.
Realmente así es porque Harriet fue capaz de elevarlo a tal punto que lo despojó de su humanidad? La cinta no da elementos… más que un par de insinuaciones que llegan demasiado tarde en el tercer acto. Todos los otros personajes principales tienen como, tal vez, dimensión y media solamente, pero como los actores que las interpretan son tan adorables, es casi imposible no quererlas.
The actor, Justin H. Min who has previously starred on ‘After Yang’, does not allow the film to fall off the charts as he brings a certain je ne sais quoi to the screen. Even though he is undeniably charming, this could have come off as conceited and distasteful if not for the character’s brilliant subtleties. He always makes you think about the best for Harriet, for he seems to be a good guy and a strong character who can accomplish anything.
Now perhaps Minsai has evolved into an evolved version of John Cussack’’s character from Say Anything who, despite ‘stalking’ with a boom box, was quite the prototypical straight young American male. So clean and wholesome that it was enough to dismiss the character played by the actor.
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- Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-fic
- Country: United States
- Director: Ned Benson
- Cast: Lucy Boynton, Justin H. Min, David Corenswet
