Knight Of Cups

I am one of those people, who love actors who can take on all kinds of characters. Especially the ones who are insane, or really fascinating. We have plenty of actors out there who have proved themselves to be amazing at making characters in their own way, or portrait a person as real as they possibly could. There is one film that i can never get out of my mind, simply because it was both very unique, and the lead actor did an amazing performance. I am talking about American Psycho, and the lead actor Christian Bale. His performance as the insane serial killer Patrick Bateman, is absolutely splendid. It is one of the best serial killer films made, since it is much more detailed and well written, than most of the films in this genre. Director Mary Harron managed to capture the feeling of the novel American Psycho, by author Bret Easton Ellis. Speaking of Christian Bale, this is an actor who have proved himself many times. There are so many great films he have been a part of, and some of my personal favourites ( except for American Psycho ), is The Machinist, his Batman films and The Fighter. He is still really good in other films, but we don´t need to go through the whole list. No matter what genres, or stories that Christian Bale choose, he always seems to find a way to find interesting characters. I am looking forward to see him in the new film The Big Short, that just landed in swedish cinemas. Just look at the cast, apart from Bale, we have Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt. I am going to go next week if everything goes as planned. Until then, i took the time to watch a new film with Christian Bale called Knight Of Cups. Now i noticed something interesting, that he is working with director Terrence Malick. Don´t recognize the name ? How about his films The Thin Red Line and The Tree Of Life ? He have directed other good films also, but i was curious to see Bale in a new film with Malik, the combination felt interesting. But that´s not all, the cast list is impressive with Cate Blanchet, Natalie Portman, Antonio Banderas, Brian Dennehy, Ryan O´Neil, and many more. So with such a great cast, and a great director, is Knight Of Cups another quality film from Terrence Malick, or is his glory days as an director outnumbered ?

Rick ( Christian Bale ) is a screenwriter living in Los Angeles. He have a successfull career, but he feels empty inside. To fill out these empty holes, he meets new women, and attend different parties. Even since his brother died, his life changed him completely, and he lost hope. Now, he is trying to get answers to many questions, and to understand what his purpose is in this world.

There is no doubt that Knight Of Cups looks different than the average film release. There are plenty of long dialogue scenes, where we take off to all kinds of places, and corners. The problem is that i can not feel very interested in the plot, or the characters. We move around with so many different locations, and mind talking, that you try to understand where this is going. I like strange films, or odd films, and Knight Of Cups is without a doubt an odd film. But if you don´t have a solid structure, to keep the film interesting, you have a big problem. The main character Rick, played by Christian Bale, is a very basic, non exciting character. All he does is move around in different locations, meet different people, and just look sad most of the time. Remember the great cast list i mentioned before? You might think that with such a great cast list, you make a film better. In this case, it does not help the film very much. Director Terrence Malik have directed good films in the past, and you can tell that he could have made Knight Of Cups interesting, if he made some major changes. Instead, he leaves us with a very experimental film, that goes in all directions. I really tried to sit through 2 hours of this film, focusing on the plot, and the characters. But i still feel disappointed, because with such a cast, and such a talented director, we should have had more than this. There are a few beautiful scenes, that looks really good. And there are a few dialogue scenes that works, but apart from this i do not find much else to be happy about. I think most of you remember how good The This Red Line is, but if you watch Knight Of Cups you will guaranteed be disappointed. I am sorry Terrence Mallick, i can see you were trying to do something different with this film. In the end, i feel that Knight Of Cups is a long journey without a solid destination. Such a shame, i was looking forward to see this film. Not a horrible film, just simply very boring and not focused on a solid plot.

Rating: DD