Malcolm & Marie review
What is the point of critiquing a movie? I honestly dislike movie critics. They don’t really seem to watch a movie the way regular people do. I heard a lot of critics dislike this movie… I am not a movie critic. I’m just a blogger, I love movies and the art of filmmaking.
I LOVED Malcolm and Marie!
Why? Well, I must admit that I am actually a fan of these types of movies, social dramas, relationship movies. I’ve kind of moved on from romantic comedies and over the top love stories. I love stories about the couple in the thick of it, passed the honeymoon phase, going through something painful. I just loved this movie. I hope it will encourage other creators to make more like this. We also need black creators to do more deep works like this. Movies like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Kramer vs Kramer… I’ve loved those types of movies since I was really young.
Ok, so why did I really love this movie? First… Seeing black people in this kind of setting is refreshing. It’s not a given, unfortunately. It is a simple setting. They are home, she’s preparing mac and cheese. They are not perfect. They are talking to each other. They are horrible to each other, but it’s delightful to us. They are dissecting their relationship right in front of us. We go through a lot of emotions.
It’s an amazing movie. I’m so glad I was able to watch it with fresh eyes. I don’t always get that chance. I didn’t watch the trailer or read anything about it beforehand. This is how I like to watch a movie. I just received a notification from Netflix a few weeks ago announcing its release, I saw who would be starring in it and right away decided : “We are watching that!”
I loved it from the start, first scene. The choice to have it in black and white was brilliant and so unexpected. After watching it, I felt there were major symbolism and hidden meaning behind that decision. It was so beautiful! I also loved the technical beauty of the movie, the cinematography and the set. The house, clearly the third character in the movie, is beautiful and allows for such aesthetically pleasing frames. I loved how it felt like I was watching a play. I loved the tension that the house creates.
Knowing now that it was made during the pandemic and lockdown orders with a minimal crew makes this movie even more special. It gives it a total other layer, its own beautiful charm. Watching it, we see that they are stuck in a house trying to tolerate each other, love each other, care for each other just like we are doing now all over the world.
I won’t stop saying it, I loved the movie… I never (or try hard not to) watch a movie with political eyes because I love experiencing it and appreciating the art of storytelling. But I do have a bias, I love seeing black people on screen. Nevertheless, what usually matters to me is the depth and the intelligence of the script. I hate when my intelligence is insulted or when the writing is lazy or boring. There was nothing boring about the lines in this film. And, I am a critical watcher, my husband tells me all the time. But I don’t hate for the fun of it. I know what I like, yes, but I don’t expect perfection in every production or demand for writers or director to cater to me and my individual sensibilities.
I tried hard not to watch or read anything that would taint my perspective before the movie came out. Now I want to watch and read everything that is said about it. I just wanted to write this before I dive in because I don’t want my words of appreciation to be tainted as well.
I also loved the chemistry between our two actors. I was not too familiar with Zendaya’s previous work. I mean, I’ve seen Spider-Man and The Greatest Showman, but this movie really allows for a breakthrough performance from her. Not having seen Euphoria, I’m sure I’m missing out. As for John David Washington, I always thought he was great. And as always, he delivers a stellar performance. I watched this movie with my husband, and sometimes I looked at him like: “if you ever said something like this to me…”, some of Washington’s lines were vicious. But it did what it was supposed to do, it got an emotion out of me. I was delighted and I could still relate. The dialogue was over the top, the argument was cruel sometimes, and grotesque even… but it’s a movie. Just like the ridiculous fight scenes we see in action movies have nothing to do with reality, and we have no problem accepting them, and we are delighted when they are well choreographed and innovative…
I’ve been in fights where cheap shots were thrown. So a fight between two people lasting 1h45, is that really over the top? Cheap shots, dissections, pseudo psychoanalysis and trying to break the other one and mold the other one… Why do we fight otherwise? When we fight something buried deep inside comes out, and sometimes it’s ugly.
Again, I loved this movie… I didn’t know before-hand that it was written by a white man, and I’m glad I didn’t. In general, I don’t want to know specific things like that when I watch a movie. Like I said before, I love watching movies with fresh eyes, and I hate when my experience is tainted. The writer-director’s race does not bother me, I don’t know why it would. The writing was good. I was better than good, I was riveted I reached for my phone a couple of times to look up some words I heard, but I love that. I love learning.
From my view point, I understood that Malcolm was narcissistic and that he needed a person like Marie to add depth to his life. I guess the drug addict back-story for Marie was necessary to set up the major event in the plot, the movie premiere and the fact that the movie is about her life. I liked that we didn’t have to see her struggle with addiction, that the movie wasn’t really about that. The movie was about two people navigating through a relationship with each other and even maybe with themselves.
As I’ve mentioned earlier, movies like this are my favorite types of movies. I also like plays. I just like well written monologues and dialogues that pierce into me, make me think, make me feel. I watched A Marriage Story with Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver, also loved it. I want more movies like this with black people in them.
One thing, however, I didn’t cry. It’s not necessarily bad but, I’m a cry baby at the movies, and I cry very easily. Maybe they weren’t going for that, but to me, deep-diving into the obscure alleys of a relationship should make a sensitive spectator cry. But again, maybe they just didn’t want to go there.
While watching the movie I thought about, Kramer vs Kramer, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf, Fences and A Marriage Story. Movies I’ve seen, and have loved…
I wasn’t trying to analyze the film while writing this, but I must say that at the end of it, I was left with a strong feeling that they won’t make it. It felt to me like Marie was on the verge of breaking free from Malcolm and that emotionally they are no longer a good match. I loved that it was left unsaid, so we can decide for ourselves what happened.
Great movie, a must-see…