“How do you make a movie with aliens that’s not about aliens? One that’s more about humanity than anything else? The answer to that is Denis Villenueve’s Arrival. Amy Adams stars as a linguist who is recruited by the military to communicate with the mysterious aliens who have landed on our planet.
I found it absolutely fascinating, the concept of sharing language across two different species. I think I was more into the science of it than the suspense of why the aliens are here. Then again, part of my lesser interest in the plot itself was that it was such a slow burn of suspense, that I would have been frustrated paying any more attention. I will say though that the payoff was rather satisfying. Well mostly. Not all questions were answered, but a few things I picked up on that weren’t quite right were actually supporting a pretty gnarly twist that I did not see coming.
Amy Adams is getting some awards buzz for this, and while I’m very much in favor of her winning her overdue Oscar (after multiple fruitless nominations), this role doesn’t do it for me. She’s taken on a lot of serious stuff lately, and I really miss her bubbly Enchanted days. And the performances I wanted her to win for were The Fighter or American Hustle, where she was lively and against type. She’s too restrained here for me. But let’s continue this chat after I see Nocturnal Animals.
Yeah so this was a kind of a weird and sparse post, but it was a weird and minimal movie. I liked it though. It’s certainly less mainstream than most of what’s clogging up the multiplexes
Arrival – \m/ \m/ \m/ \m”