by Brendan Foley
Two Cents
Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team will program films and contribute our best, most insightful, or most creative thoughts on each film using a maximum of 200 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick
Sci-fi has long born the stigma of being childish and shallow, owing to the tonnage of media more focused on hot chicks firing laser beams at robots or aliens or alien robots than on grappling with the ideas inherent to expanding human perception beyond mundane reality.
But in recent years, the new availability and feasibility of film tools has enable a generation of sci-fi films that place the emphasis on characters and ideas, not on super kewl explosions and the like. In the past decade, we’ve enjoyed the likes of Moon, Timecrimes, Upstream Color, Her, and this year’s Ex Machina.
And now there is Advantageous. Written and directed by Jennifer Phang, an adaptation of her own short film, Advantageous depicts a near-future in which companies are nearing the point where human consciousness can be transferred from host to host, essentially, creating a kind of immortality. Phang uses this story as a means to broach subjects raging from ageism, racism, maternity, and societal demands on women.
Recommended by our own Elizabeth Stoddard, Advantageous is unlike any other sci-fi film in recent memory, but is it a new entry in this burgeoning collection of modern classics, or an also-ran curiosity? The Two Cents team weighs in below.
Did you get a chance to watch along with us this week? Want to recommend a great (or not so great) film for the whole gang to cover? Comment below or post on our Facebook or hit us up on Twitter!
Next Week’s Pick:
We go from the polished sheen of the not-so-distant future to the grimy corners of the not-especially-distant past with 1973’s The Seven-Ups. The one and only directorial effort of Philip D’Antoni, the producer of such cop movie classics as Bullitt and The French Connection, The Seven-Ups finds Roy Scheider’s brash detective on a war path against the dirtiest elements of the already-pretty dirty NYC.
Streaming on Netflix, The Seven-Ups boasts one of the most shocking car crash moments in the entire history of cinema, but how does the rest of the film hold up? We’ll find out!
Would you like to be a guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your under-200-word review to twocents(at)cinapse.co!
The Team
Elizabeth:While elegant graphics and visual cues hint at a future not too far separated from our time, Jennifer Phang’s Advantageous confronts continually relevant themes of ageism, the value of women’s work, and issues of reproductive life. Jacqueline Kim as Gwen and young newcomer Samantha Kim as Jules are compelling in the mother-daughter relationship central to this drama. I rewound the movie a few times to get the exact wording of Gwen’s warning to her adolescent daughter: “It’s good to be humble, but you need to know your value. The ideas, the wisdom & the kindness in you — that’s the secret beauty everyone wants.”
Given the impact of societal ideals of beauty on the forward momentum of this tale — based in a future in which women have difficulty keeping jobs or even landing them in the first place — the irony of Gwen making such a statement is obvious. To remain in her beauty industry job, she will go against her own beliefs and make a significant sacrifice. Phang’s worldbuilding here is impressive, given her limited budget. Advantageous can move at an odd pace, but this feminist sci-fi film is mindfully constructed and includes a few unexpected twists. (@elizs)
Justin:In a year where science fiction featured several of the most prominent titles in the country in both popularity and critical praise, this 2015 drama doesn’t measure up. It has one of the more unique premises I’ve seen in some time but it doesn’t deliver on the potential of that premise.
I could heap some serious praise on the acting, which felt strong throughout. I could commend some of the film work and point out how many shots were fantastically framed and well thought out. But all of this praise is more than offset by one thing… I was bored to tears during so many moments in the film. It just never sunk its teeth into me.
I didn’t hate it, but ultimately it was forgettable… which is surprising given the strong conceit this film is built upon. (@thepaintedman)
Brendan: Jennifer Phang’s feature debut comes loaded with more intelligent and intriguing concepts than other films that cost ten times as much and run twice as long. But by the time Advantageous came to a close, I couldn’t help but feel that this felt more like a rough draft than a wholly completed idea. Advantageous never quite figures out how to convincingly capture the drama of its central premise, leaving the film feeling bloodless. The core relationship between Jacqueline Kim and Samantha Kim is beautifully played, but the rest of the film has a gloss over it that chokes out the inherent emotional stakes of the premise.
A bigger problem is the film’s final act, which is predicated on a casting switcheroo that simply doesn’t work. We need to buy that two different actresses are playing the same role and unfortunately Phang hits an airball with it. Not only does the shift rob the film of its best performance and best dynamic, but it comes so late in the film as to feel like the film is rushing through the most important parts of the story. Advantageous is, flaws aside, an announcement of a major voice, and I look forward to future Phang films in the hopes that next time she brings it all together into a total success. (@TheTrueBrendanF)
Austin:In a technocratic future in which female rights have further regressed, even one of the world’s most brilliant women is falling on hard times, and does everything in her power to give her daughter a chance to make her own way, even at the cost of her own identity. It’s a good story with lots of thoughts on familial bonds, ageism and sexism, and atonement for past mistakes, though it also plods a bit along the way. It’s not that it’s a dull or boring film, but there’s lot of stillness and quietude gives it the sensation of a slow pace, even though the story develops at a pretty good clip. The film’s resolution, if you can call it that, leaves things pretty open-ended but aligns things just right enough to feel hopeful. (@VforVashaw)
Did you all get a chance to watch along with us? Share your thoughts with us here in the comments or on Twitter or Facebook!