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The Power of the Dog (2021)

calsnowskier

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Just watched it.

Slow, but better than I was expecting.


So, was Phil legit making amends with Pete, or was he just gay for Pete, or did he have murderous plans for him?

I think Phil was just an asshole. But he wasn’t necessarily a bad guy. I think he was actually trying to bond with Rose when he started playing the banjo when she was practicing. But she hated him and couldn’t see him doing anything other than fuck with her, so she thought he was mocking her. I also think he was truly impressed with Pete and tried to establish a father/son kind of relationship (though he had zero social skills, so he had no idea how to make human connections). But Pete, being the psychopath that he was, took that opening as a chance to kill him.
 

mr.hockey4242

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I thought it was a pretty damn good movie. A little slow obviously but the tone kinda played into it.

The acting was fantastic and while the movie was slower paced it never completely dragged for me. Wasn't one of those movies where they blatantly coulda cut out half hour of runtime and had the exact same movie.
 

calsnowskier

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I thought it was a pretty damn good movie. A little slow obviously but the tone kinda played into it.

The acting was fantastic and while the movie was slower paced it never completely dragged for me. Wasn't one of those movies where they blatantly coulda cut out half hour of runtime and had the exact same movie.
I really liked that no one’s motives were clear (Save for, maybe, Pete -- he was either a psychopath or a savant-simpleton).

Having cloudy motivations allows the movie to be completely different to each person.

————————

Pete was able to see that Phil was setting him up for some big murder ploy, and beat him to the punch.

Pete was too simple to see that Phil was growing as a person and making legit overtures to him and his mother, and killed him anyway.

————————

George took advantage of a damaged woman just so he wouldn’t be alone in his oppressive family.

George fell in love with a strong woman raising a troubled child and brought her into his family.

————————

Rose was an alchoholic, morning her husband who committed suicide. (I just had this thought…. Did he commit suicide, or was he murdered by Pete?)

Rose was drinking to block out her bully brother in law.


etc etc etc


Each character (again, maybe with the exception of Pete) had infinite motivations for who they were, completely changing the movie based on how the characters motivations are interpreted. Almost a “Choose Your Own Adventure” movie.
 

RoosterSideburns

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Is this the one with Pete Buttelhole?
 

calsnowskier

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Sparhawk

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It wasn’t anywhere near Brokeback, but the Gay shit was a weird add. But it added to the “WTF” aspect of Phil and Pete’s relationship.
I think it's just Sam being Sam.
And Jane being Jane.

And I'm ok with that.....
 

calsnowskier

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I think it's just Sam being Sam.
And Jane being Jane.

And I'm ok with that.....
Yeah.

I tend to be a bit “sensitive” to indoctrination in pop culture, but I didn’t really feel this was a situation where anything was getting overly pushed.

I thought the story focused more on Phil’s awkwardness and lack of social skills than any gay tendencies he may or may not have had.
 

Wazmankg

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I finally made it through this movie last night. There was something about Cumberbatch's performance that didn't work for me. Idk whether it was whatever accent he was trying to use or what. It just seemed off to me. Maybe it's me. I get why it's been lauded and there were some great performances and interesting content, but I won't be watching it again.
 

Niner Outlaw

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I finally made it through this movie last night. There was something about Cumberbatch's performance that didn't work for me. Idk whether it was whatever accent he was trying to use or what. It just seemed off to me. Maybe it's me. I get why it's been lauded and there were some great performances and interesting content, but I won't be watching it again.
My feelings are similar to yours. Halfway through the movie, i turned it off. Some good performances and it was a well made show, but something in it just didn't work.
 

Wazmankg

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My feelings are similar to yours. Halfway through the movie, i turned it off. Some good performances and it was a well made show, but something in it just didn't work.

I made it about halfway through it the first time I tried. It's not that it's bad .. but there's nothing compelling about it making me care about what happened next with these characters, with the possible exception of her kid Peter.
 

calsnowskier

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I think I liked the movie because I caught on to the technique they were using pretty early on. If a movie uses a special storytelling technique, and it isn’t recognized right away, sometime I can get frustrated by that (The Last Duel, for example). Conversely, if I catch it early, I can have fun throughout the movie just on the technical side of the story telling.

I recognized the chose-your-own-adventure nature of this movie very early so I was able to have fun with the technique.
 

Sharkonabicycle

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I enjoyed it. It went with a lot of different angles...

Jealousy or sexual repression from the brother.
Depression from the new wife.
Lack of confidence from the new husband.

Overall the whole film had a feeling of both sexual and moral tension across the 3 characters, and it seemed the youngest who may have had no motive or was uncorrupted brought things together... but you're never really sure who is good or 'bad' in this movie.

It's a drama character study for sure, and IMO a pretty good one at that. You're never really sure who to side with as they all seem to have their own inner demons.... but it's just kind of one of those 'sit back and watch it unfold and make up your own mind.' These kind of films in my experience make Western audiences feel VERY uncomfortable. Generally Western audiences want to be told who is right/wrong and made it very obvious. This film was really not that... and I applaud them for it. Despite being born/raised in the US and brought up with those values, I watch a LOT of movies and find themes like this very refreshing/interesting.

Good movie. Slow in some parts, but it was a character study done right. Nothing revolutionary or blow your socks off (it's been done before), so I'd give it a good 7/10 IMDB.
 

calsnowskier

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I enjoyed it. It went with a lot of different angles...

Jealousy or sexual repression from the brother.
Depression from the new wife.
Lack of confidence from the new husband.

Overall the whole film had a feeling of both sexual and moral tension across the 3 characters, and it seemed the youngest who may have had no motive or was uncorrupted brought things together... but you're never really sure who is good or 'bad' in this movie.

It's a drama character study for sure, and IMO a pretty good one at that. You're never really sure who to side with as they all seem to have their own inner demons.... but it's just kind of one of those 'sit back and watch it unfold and make up your own mind.' These kind of films in my experience make Western audiences feel VERY uncomfortable. Generally Western audiences want to be told who is right/wrong and made it very obvious. This film was really not that... and I applaud them for it. Despite being born/raised in the US and brought up with those values, I watch a LOT of movies and find themes like this very refreshing/interesting.

Good movie. Slow in some parts, but it was a character study done right. Nothing revolutionary or blow your socks off (it's been done before), so I'd give it a good 7/10 IMDB.
Exactly. They show what happens, but offers no inner dialogues to determine what any of their intentions are. That is why I describe it as a “choose your own adventure” movie. You can assign your own motives to each character and the movie totally changes based on that. Watch it again with different motives and it is a completely different movie.

Was Cumberbatch a repressed homosexual who was attracted to the kid but didn’t know how to act on it? Or was he just a fuck up asshole who wanted to set the kid up for a big kill scene? Was the mother drugged out because she was mourning her first husbands death, or because she killed him and couldn’t deal with that reality? Or simply because she had to share her life with her new bro in law? Was Cumberbatch trying to offer an olive branch to the mother with his banjo playing or was he fucking with her by interrupting her practice?

None of these questions are answered in the movie. None of the answers are even hinted at. The viewer has to fill in the blanks by themself and watch the movie based on those assumptions.

If you don’t assign those assumptions, than the movie is dull. You need to supply something to the story on your own in order to really experience the story.
 
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