Review of The Favourite (2018) by Popcorn55 — 28 Jan 2019

Lost in a limbo somewhere between Masterpiece Theater and Monty Python, this artsy-fartsy cutesy-pootsy "period drama" is neither convincingly "period", nor very dramatic, nor does the occasional half-hearted comic scene redeem it. A lot of work obviously went into this, and we have to respect the efforts of all involved but... it all turns out to be an odd and rather dreary affair that's more depressing than entertaining.

While there are many lingering close-ups of Emma Stone to show that her agent has negotiated a generous portion of exclusive screen time for her, the cinematography in general is notably annoying and distracting. In particular the "fisheye" wide angle shots with peripheral curving and distortion of the images, help to destroy any immersive experience here, and distance us from the story. A story which is often a bit hard to follow, and hard to swallow. That most of the cast don't make any attempt at English accents, and talk essentially L.A. street talk, additionally sabotages the historical ambience we expect. Maybe this was supposed to be campy, like it was in "Marie Antoinette", but it doesn't come across that way here.

Finally, the irritating score compounds the strange off-key quality of the film. While some period music is used, it's performed and mixed in a way that sounds inauthentic. Then we have long, long periods where the score is some kind of inexplicable, monotonous, modernistic knocking, tocking noise that again distracts us from the action at hand and reminds us that this is an artsy-fartsy director getting in his artsy farts instead of entertaining us.

On the positive side, the bunnies are cute; ducks are always a plus in any film; and when the horsies prance along with their feathered crests on, that's pretty darn cool.