Samir (who is also on Twitter) has checked in with some more reviews. Up next are Drones and Best Worst Movie, to be posted later today. I've been laid low by really terrible asthma attack (think Ernesto Guevara in The Motorcycle Diaries) and need additional mandated rest. Here's Samir:
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Remember all that stuff I said about Paper Man? About how it failed to establish a happy medium in voice between moments played for chuckles and really harrowing back stories, and how that left it muddled and unfocused? And also, remember how I mentioned that I really have trouble getting behind a character you're really supposed to root for, but they're kind of a creep?
It is for those exact same reasons that I really didn't enjoy My Suicide. Only to the power of ten. On acid. In space.
Archie is a high school student with very few social skills and even fewer friends, who's always carrying a video camera with him, filming everything going on around him. For a senior class project, he decides to film himself committing suicide. This, obviously, creates a bit of a stir, and people react to him in different ways. Many call him selfish and attention-seeking, others continue to just bully and harass, and most importantly, the prettiest girl in school suddenly takes interest in him. She has a horrible tragedy in her past that makes her suddenly empathize with Archie. As the film progresses, their bond strengthens, and the film does a good job of filling in back-story to flesh out these characters. Again, though, Archie never came across as sympathetic to me, so I could never get behind him as the viewer is supposed to.
The most interesting thing about My Suicide is the way it's presented. Especially in the first half, there's a lot of animation, and some clever use of green-screens and stock newsreel footage. The techniques are all used effectively, but it does serve to make the story a lot less coherent. Towards the end of the film, as the drama heightens, there's less of these effects, and that is definitely a blessing. The tone of the "non-traditional" elements of the film were always pretty light hearted and funny, and, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, these didn't sit comfortably alongside the much darker nature of the plot.
The show is stolen by Joe Mantegna, who plays a shrink who's seen it all before, and appears to be the first person to really "get" Archie. (Earlier, Archie sees another shrink, played by Tony Hale, who resolutely does not). There's a scene with Mantegna, which is animated, and features a lot of references to other movies, which kind of captured the problem with the film: lots of disparate ideas, not really all working together. The final act, though, is very powerful, as Archie finally realizes why his project might not be the coolest idea in the world.
What will stick with me, though, is the appearance of David Carradine, who plays a writer that advocates death and its sweet release. His voice is used throughout, and he appears onscreen towards the end to talk with Archie. His character was a little too on-the-nose, and it was creepy and weird and sad to see him up there.
Not the "hilarious comedy" it was billed as, My Suicide mostly just left me kinda bummed.