Synopsis: “A drama centered on a group of people searching for human connections in today’s wired world.” (Rated R; 1 hour, 55 minutes)
Was the title of this latest blog entry a dead-giveaway? Yes I enjoyed the movie. A lot. Well, enjoyed may not quite be the right word for it… “affected” perhaps.
Do you remember how good everyone said Crash was, but how there was something inherently heavy-handed and manipulative about the movie that just kept it from actually BEING great? Well those were certainly my feelings from the 2004 Academy Award winner. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a very easy movie-audience to please, and I loved watching Crash, with its intense multi-layered story-lines, and great actors playing against type all over the place. In fact it was thanks to Crash that the world started to see that Sandra Bullock really COULD act after all. But it was just a bit too schmaltzy to actually be great (in my humble opinion).
Disconnect is basically Crash without the schmaltz. It has a handful of different story-lines that come together in some bizarre way at the end, but more importantly it is deep, with compelling plots, great acting, and almost a year later I still think it was fantastic. It probably contains the best Jason Bateman performance to date, as well as a “Catfish” type subplot that absolutely broke my heart. I recall the lights going down and being so overwhelmed by what I had just seen that I couldn’t even get up right away. I will not give away more of the story, because I hope you’ll be renting/streaming it soon, and letting me know what you think.
The movie was better than Crash – as I’ve made crystal clear – and it’s not as good as…my bachelor party in Las Vegas. What, I HAVE to pick a movie that I liked more that’s also multilinear? Sorry, it was better than Crash, Babel, Short Cuts and Syriana. I’ve never seen Nashville, so perhaps that was a greater movie of its genre.
Quality Rating: A+ (This isn’t a guilty pleasure type movie where I enjoyed it more than its worth, it actually was great.)
Boaz Rating: A+
Boaz's Movie Obsession 
I just wrote a post about mind-benders (you should come over!) and I think this one would do nicely. I am very intrigued and will obtain a copy very soon. Great review.
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I liked that post from you, and agree with many of your choices (obviously Inception and The Matrix when first watching were CRAZY mind benders!) so I’m definitely happy this will get you to watch the movie. Though it’s not twisty in that same manner, it’s just a really intense drama well worth checking out. 🙂
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Will do! 🙂
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I recently watched “Disconnect,” too, and I’d have to agree with your review. It was an intense film that impressively wove together three storylines seamlessly while not giving one tale more weight than the other. Plus, the performances were great, especially Jason Bateman. Overall, “Disconnect” was a suspenseful and timely film that showed technology can be great as well as bad at times.
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You actually saw it, I’m so excited! 🙂
It really was, the themes of technology were fantastic but still subtle enough that they weren’t banging you over the head the way many movies try to do…such great stories, such amazing performances. Thanks for telling me you caught (and liked) it!
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No problem.
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wow Boaz,
You snagged me on this one. I’m gonna see it soon!
Thanks
shabbat shalom!
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No doubt it will soon be one of the ten movies you watch on your computer in one day! 🙂
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10??? I think you are exaggerating a bit. the most Ive seen in one day I think is 6 🙂
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well, I liked it, but not nearly as much as you did. I wouldn’t go so far to say it was the best movie of 2013. IMHO that goes to either Gravity or All is Lost.
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I didn’t name it as the best of 2013, I named it as the best “you haven’t heard of”. I knew some people wouldn’t catch that. lol
Glad you liked it!
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good point! noticed it, but at the same time didn’t 🙂
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