The East (2013)

Even if The East relies on a pretty original theme — eco-terrorism —, ultimately the movie is just a rather banal infiltration thriller.

The start is rather good but the script gradually gets bogged down into flagrant linearity and predictability. Boredom even shows up during certain tedious scenes at the farm, which by the way completely chop the rhythm.

As for the cast, it is pretty good overall even though we are sometimes under the impression that it wasn't fully exploited: Ellen Page, so often excellent, is, for example, totally transparent.

The intention was good but the movie turns out to be a lot too clumsy. Nevertheless, the reflections it arouses are pertinent and that's what's to remember from this rather dispensable thriller.

Fmovies: Without going into a lot of detail, this is the perfect movie for a summer day. And it just keeps on growing on you. The fact that there is another movie on this topic waiting to be made, well, that is often the case. The really exciting part of this is that Britt is not, drum roll, a star, but now she is. It can always be said that a film that is a stunning star vehicle for an actress, well, that only seems to come along every few years. And this ranks right at the top of those. Britt is not only beautiful and charismatic, but she obviously has a deep intelligence and creativity that is a perfect mix for this day and age. I say -rush out a see this, do not read about it, and try to remember one thing, great actresses are like great bottles of wine, they get better and better for a long time. Looking at what is coming for her, she is already very busy. And the fact that she hit this out of the park, is a great career lift off. Brit, this is your time.

This is a film that fails in several ways. It opens without providing the viewer with any sense of Sarah's beliefs, background, and reasons for working for what eventually we come to understand is a corrupt and unprincipled private security firm. Without establishing this starting point, there is no basis or gauge that we could use to understand Sarah's apparent change-of-heart as the story unfolds. The film also fails by stacking the deck against the East movement and making it almost impossible for the viewer to identify with their actions. The dumpster diving, their ragged appearance, and the ridiculous dinner at which they sit in straight-jackets and eat by picking up spoons with their mouths all serve not to make them sympathetic but only to alienate them from us. The dinner scene is so bizarre and aggressively ludicrous that it short-circuits whatever sympathy and identification we might have with their political actions. Finally, the film fails by ending not with a bang but a whimper as we see Sarah in various brief scenes in which she seems to be meeting individually with other undercover agents for the secretive private security firm and attempting to persuade them of the negative consequences of their actions. So, in the end, the film backs off from any conviction concerning the necessity of social movements or collective action to resolve social ills and instead valorizes the reactionary concept of the power of the individual, armed with nothing but logic and reason, to change the world. This notion doesn't change the world but only serves to reproduce the class structure and allow capitalist polluters and profiteers to sleep easy.

The East fmovies. After watching some of the trailers for this movie, I assumed it was going to be qua-say Fahrenheit 911 done in a dramatically acted story... I assumed is was a film only for the 99%'er liberal democrat.

Boy was I wrong! AND pleasantly surprised. This film is full of heart and ugly truths delivered brilliantly and beautifully. I particularly enjoyed the side characters as their roles were impact-full to the overall feel one cant help but take away. This film evoked feelings of remorse, gentleness, a sense of being cheated, love, anger and sorrow. Yet it was uplifting and gave me a sense of hopefulness as well.

The only reason I don't give it a full 10 is because I really wanted to see more and more at the end!! Don't get me wrong, its got a great ending... I just wanted MORE!!!

The East: an environmentalist group following the philosophy of an eye for an eye. The movie follows Sarah, an agent trying to infiltrate The East. The movie was almost always exciting, but showed more of the emotional side of the characters.

I had a lot of fun with this one. At times I found myself holding my breath, and couldn't figure out why. The movie had a good flow to it, with enough exciting parts to keep you from falling asleep. My biggest complaint with the movie is it didn't go as deep into the emotional sides of things and felt like it wanted to be more of a mainstream movie because of it.

Just saw this movie courtesy of the San Jose Camera Cinema Club. This is a well-acted, thought-provoking movie that asks many questions about the balance between the excesses of corporate America and the excesses of violent anarchist groups fighting against them. (Think Weather Underground and the SLA.) The protagonist is a young woman working for a top private security company in the Washington DC beltway on behalf of those corporations. She's assigned to infiltrate an anarchist group called "The East" to prevent damage to her company's corporate clients. The ensuing exposition of the anarchist group's actions ("jams") makes for a very suspenseful and credible movie with many plot twists and turns including the ending of the movie, which is diffused with the credits. Nothing is as it seems, just like a good spy movie ought to be. So go see the movie and don't leave until the credits finish rolling.