Violet and Daisy (2011)

The movie is great at its best moments. And almost boring to death (no pun intended) in its worst. It's almost a shame that it does not find a way to stay even throughout. The two main actresses (Kudos for going that way, which also provides the movie with some of its best moments) are very different from each other. I'm not saying it's borderline cliché, but some people may expect a lot of the "twist" turns in the plot that the filmmaker thought of.

So while I would have loved to like it even more (I still think it's a decent movie overall), there are too many moments in it, that just don't work. On other news, it seems like someone was watching the Sopranos! You're not only getting Mr. Soprano himself (Mr. Gandolfini) in a completely different role, but you also get one of the regulars from that show to appear here.

Fmovies: What a poetic massacre drama! I love the absurd pitch - it is crazy. Love the girls motivated by getting a dress and the assassin crying behind the trash after an intimidating encounter. It's like a Japanese manga. This is so much fresher than a Tarantino, I like better this genre ! Tarantino takes himself way too seriously ! I regret though that the girls seem to not be enough professional, and that there was not more action. I really missed the action ! But the poetic sweet mood is very innovating, I'd like more of this please. Loved this line "What's with the cookies?! Wait, what if it's only the tip of the iceberg? What if he also makes brownies ???" Excellent !

I had great expectations for this movie. I mean, how could you miss with the great James Gandolfini and wonderful Saoirse Ronan as headliners (and Alexis Bledel is certainly eyeworthy), and yet the first time through this film I did not enjoy the experience. Then it dawned on me, well, duh, this film is intended to be a Tarantino parody, and it went up several stars in my estimation. Of course, making a parody of a QT film is problematic, because Quentin films are already parodies of other genres such as kung fu, grindhouse, and noir. And so, in a sense, the filmmaker is making a parody of a parody. I mean, Saoirse playing patty-cakes with Danny Trejo? The scene is totally Quentinesque to a ludicrous extreme. And that's parody.

Other motifs that echo and exaggerate Tarantino's style include the implausible violence sequences that can only exist in some alternate film universe (think Black Mamba single-handedly wiping out a small army of yakuza in "Kill Bill,") and the interminable gabfest that fills out a QT script (these people love to talk and talk and talk)... And so, as a parody of a parody, and for its very impressive cast, this film is worth an amused watch.

Violet and Daisy fmovies. This is a great little film, quirky and intelligent. It is not your typical assassin film, and it may be too eccentric for some people's taste, but I enjoyed it. There are many levels to the story - without giving anything away - and it can be enjoyed on several levels. The teenage assassins are delightfully ruthless yet - at least at times - also endearingly vulnerable. All the leads give good performances, and Ronan and Gandolfin both give especially good performances. It is quite bloody, in a literal and figurative sense, but not gratuitously. I was disappointed that it wasn't critically acclaimed and that it didn't do well at the box office - the latter may have been been due to poor marketing. I really enjoyed it, though it wasn't a masterpiece, it was entertaining.

As the Toronto International Film Festival approaches, the film I'm still thinking about from last year's TIFF is Violet & Daisy, Geoffrey Fletcher's fascinating directorial debut – a resonant tapestry of pulp, humor, tragedy and humanism.

Some have rushed to compare Violet & Daisy with other films featuring comely gun-toting young women such as Kick-Ass, Sucker Punch and Hanna. However, the aforementioned films differ greatly from Fletcher's offering in that they are pro-violent pieces of commerce whereas Violet & Daisy condemns violence through irony and artistry. It is a throwback to the daring American films of the 70's and 90's in both spirit and style while sampling bits of 50's and 60's world cinema (and surrealism). The result is a classically-informed modern mosaic.

Alexis Bledel, Saoirse Ronan and James Gandolfini, the three well-chosen and committed leads, are all playing against type in what may be the most interesting roles of their careers. Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Danny Trejo are also exceptional. Rising star Cody Horn appears briefly as a pop starlet. I found it odd to see such a diverse collection of talents working in harmony not only with one another but within this alternate universe.

In addition to its array of unexpected (and suspenseful) moments, the film meditates on friendship, girl power, materialism and regret. Throughout, Fletcher imbues striking compositions with symbolism while gracefully moving through a myriad of tones and genres. The use of music is extraordinary. All of these elements working in concert with the film's considerable humor and technical command create a singular experience. I have no memory of a recent independent film that was this daring, multi-layered and assured.

The film has yet to be reviewed widely but it is no coincidence that some of the most thoughtful early writing on it came days, not hours, after the first Toronto screening. Fletcher and his remarkable collaborators may have also provided us with a litmus (if not Rorschach) test for cinephiles and critics alike. All in all, perhaps a film this bold ought to polarize in an age of shrink-wrap cinema.

I remember how I first felt watching Godard's Breathless and Alphaville. They were so different from anything I'd ever seen that it was at first unsettling. Once I found a doorway into these new worlds, however, escape was impossible. I feel the same way about Violet & Daisy.

I had the chance to check out Geoffrey Fletcher's directorial debut on its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival and I was blown away. Geoffrey Fletcher is known as the Academy winning screenwriter of the film Precious, and his debut as a director took me by surprise because it did not at all offset any element from his writing work on Precious. He goes from social consciousness, inner-city story, black American social issues, etc.. and does a complete 180 degrees to create a world where two (white) teenage girls go on killing sprees for a living. but then again, Precious was adapted from a book, so he can kind of get away with this. Nevertheless, this really took me by surprise!

Alexis Bledel and Saoirse Ronan play the title characters, who seem like they spun out of a Tarantino movie. Violet and Daisy are hit girls in New York, casually amoral about assignments with their only real concern being what dresses to buy with the pay. The movie unfolds in 10 chapters with the first being the most Tarantino-esque, which actually establishes the wrong tone for what is to come. Saoirse Ronan will definitely be mentioned come award time! I must admit that the film was entertaining and filled with great comedic timing and actions scenes that came straight out of a Tarantino flick. In fact, If I didn't know who had directed this film, my first guess would be Quentin Tarantino. Violet and Daisy are given a new assignment — an easy one for an increase in pay,they are assured — takes the film into much trickier terrain. The target, played as a wry and rumpled sad sack by James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) actually welcomes the girls' visit to his dumpy apartment. This bothers them: Shooting a willing victim seems unprofessional. The movie now devolves into a three-hander, with any number of incidents and other "guests" causing interruptions but the movie essentially becomes a play and delves into a poetic set of scenes filled with symbolic imagery to reveal each character's motives in life. The key confrontation in this life-or-death situation between killers and a eager victim forces self-examination on the parts of all three.

I applaud Fletcher's first effort, but can't really define him until I see more from him, which should be interesting to see what's next.