'In Your Eyes' review by Captain Raptor
The future is now. Tomorrow is today. From day one of general release, the Joss Whedon-scripted In Your Eyes was available for rent online for a small fee (from vimeo.com, if you're interested and also incapable of googling it). From the man who recently made the third highest-grossing film in history, it's a surprisingly small and underground affair, directed by and starring relative unknowns. But any decent Whedonite knows to expect the unexpected, and a metaphysical love story can't really be considered anything but that.
The concept is without question the most entertaining thing about this movie. One day, for no established reason, two strangers, miles apart from one another, start to see, hear and feel what the other sees, hears and feels. And rather than leading to existential angst or sci-fi investigations, it mostly leads to flirting. It's a unique, fresh and - most importantly - incredibly interesting basis for a story. Admittedly, once you move past the science fiction element, a large amount consists of the tried and tested romantic drama clichés, but they do seem a little less tired when blended in with the weird stuff. The film goes for both laughs and drama in roughly equal amounts, and is fairly successful on both accounts. It's a very soft and subtle film, and it plays this card well, but to some degree it's missing the cleverness or darkness (much more the latter than the former) that often makes this technique work the best. As one would expect from Whedon, the dialogue is excellent, and the film's other major area of success is the cinematography, seemingly devoted to making everything look as pretty as possible.
Vitally for a romance, both the lead performers are immensely likeable and their definitely have chemistry. Zoe Kazan gives a nicely nuanced performance, and Cloverfield's Michael Stahl-David nails his one-liners and comedic scenes. There's not much in the way of supporting characters, as they mostly seem to exist purely for plot advancement, but Steve Harris' few scenes as a weary parole officer are worthy of praise. It's not exactly ground-breaking, but the class difference between the two potential partners is done nicely, especially with the visual contrast - Kazan mostly exists in a world of whites and silvers, whereas Stahl-David is surrounded at all turns by different shades of brown. Certain elements of the plot don't really hold much interest, especially when the familiar tread of the storyline allows you to predict what happens next fairly accurately. A few scenes go for comically awkward, and while they mostly hit the mark, at times they're just uncomfortable to watch without any amusing pay-off.
In Your Eyes isn't moving, hilarious or exciting in any particular way. However, it's a very assured film that makes the most of its attention-grabbing central premise, as well as being damned funny when it wants to be. The drama isn't superb, but it's good enough to entertain, and despite the obviousness of it all, I did find myself getting heavily invested in the will-they-won't-they romance at the heart of the film. Long-time Whedon fans should enjoy it, but not as much as his other work, and the way the film deals with its premise alone makes it definitely worth watching.
The concept is without question the most entertaining thing about this movie. One day, for no established reason, two strangers, miles apart from one another, start to see, hear and feel what the other sees, hears and feels. And rather than leading to existential angst or sci-fi investigations, it mostly leads to flirting. It's a unique, fresh and - most importantly - incredibly interesting basis for a story. Admittedly, once you move past the science fiction element, a large amount consists of the tried and tested romantic drama clichés, but they do seem a little less tired when blended in with the weird stuff. The film goes for both laughs and drama in roughly equal amounts, and is fairly successful on both accounts. It's a very soft and subtle film, and it plays this card well, but to some degree it's missing the cleverness or darkness (much more the latter than the former) that often makes this technique work the best. As one would expect from Whedon, the dialogue is excellent, and the film's other major area of success is the cinematography, seemingly devoted to making everything look as pretty as possible.
Vitally for a romance, both the lead performers are immensely likeable and their definitely have chemistry. Zoe Kazan gives a nicely nuanced performance, and Cloverfield's Michael Stahl-David nails his one-liners and comedic scenes. There's not much in the way of supporting characters, as they mostly seem to exist purely for plot advancement, but Steve Harris' few scenes as a weary parole officer are worthy of praise. It's not exactly ground-breaking, but the class difference between the two potential partners is done nicely, especially with the visual contrast - Kazan mostly exists in a world of whites and silvers, whereas Stahl-David is surrounded at all turns by different shades of brown. Certain elements of the plot don't really hold much interest, especially when the familiar tread of the storyline allows you to predict what happens next fairly accurately. A few scenes go for comically awkward, and while they mostly hit the mark, at times they're just uncomfortable to watch without any amusing pay-off.
In Your Eyes isn't moving, hilarious or exciting in any particular way. However, it's a very assured film that makes the most of its attention-grabbing central premise, as well as being damned funny when it wants to be. The drama isn't superb, but it's good enough to entertain, and despite the obviousness of it all, I did find myself getting heavily invested in the will-they-won't-they romance at the heart of the film. Long-time Whedon fans should enjoy it, but not as much as his other work, and the way the film deals with its premise alone makes it definitely worth watching.
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