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The Longest Week (Facebook)
What's it about:
As he eases into adulthood at the age of 40, Conrad Valmont, the overeducated, underemployed heir to the Valmont Hotel fortune, is cut off from his allowance following his parents’ abrupt divorce and tossed out into the unforgiving streets of the Upper West Side. Luckily, he is taken in by his old friend, Dylan, and returns the favor by immediately falling for Dylan's girlfriend, Beatrice. As Conrad attempts to woo Beatrice while keeping both their relationship and his bank balance secret, Dylan tries to set Conrad up with Jocelyn. Ever committed to the charade that he eventually finds difficult to maintain, Conrad quickly realises that his charm can only extend so far into debt. Now deep into an extensional reflection, will it take losing everything to make Conrad realise what he can truly become?
What we thought:
It looks like a Woody Allen film and feels like a Wes Anderson film but it is neither.
Set in affluent, high society Manhattan The Longest Week is pretentious and a bore.
Spoilt, rich, man child Conrad Valmont (Jason Bateman) has to slum it for a week after his parents cut him off from the family money.
40-year-old Conrad has never worked a day in his life, has lived in a hotel and had servants and chauffeurs at his beck and call.
Born with a silver spoon Conrad is used to the privileged life and has been trying to write a great novel.
In need of a place to stay he heads over to his friend Dylan Tate’s (Billy Crudup) place. They have a love/hate relationship and are always competing on some level.
On the way to Dylan’s place he meets a beautiful stranger on the subway, Beatrice Fairbanks (Olivia Wilde). He later discovers that she is Dylan’s girlfriend but this does not deter him from pursuing her. He falls in love with her and the two have a short lived romance.
When Dylan finds out about the affair he kicks Conrad out of his place. He then moves in with Beatrice which inevitably leads to the downfall of their romance.
It’s nice to see Jason Bateman in a different kind of role. It’s really hard to try to like his character though he is everything you expect a rich, spoilt man child to be. He is fickle and a snob and honestly quite irritating. There’s nothing worse than seeing a 40-year-old struggle to do the basics. Bateman did an OK job at this character portrayal.
Olivia Wilde is there to look pretty. In fact there are a number of shots that focus intently on her beautiful face. You don’t really get a feel for her character at all.
While it’s a beautiful movie to watch and there are some witty dialogue and smarty funny scenes it’s hard to really find the point of it all; the point of the story.
The movie comes off as pretentious and stuck-up just like the world it is set in.
As he eases into adulthood at the age of 40, Conrad Valmont, the overeducated, underemployed heir to the Valmont Hotel fortune, is cut off from his allowance following his parents’ abrupt divorce and tossed out into the unforgiving streets of the Upper West Side. Luckily, he is taken in by his old friend, Dylan, and returns the favor by immediately falling for Dylan's girlfriend, Beatrice. As Conrad attempts to woo Beatrice while keeping both their relationship and his bank balance secret, Dylan tries to set Conrad up with Jocelyn. Ever committed to the charade that he eventually finds difficult to maintain, Conrad quickly realises that his charm can only extend so far into debt. Now deep into an extensional reflection, will it take losing everything to make Conrad realise what he can truly become?
What we thought:
It looks like a Woody Allen film and feels like a Wes Anderson film but it is neither.
Set in affluent, high society Manhattan The Longest Week is pretentious and a bore.
Spoilt, rich, man child Conrad Valmont (Jason Bateman) has to slum it for a week after his parents cut him off from the family money.
40-year-old Conrad has never worked a day in his life, has lived in a hotel and had servants and chauffeurs at his beck and call.
Born with a silver spoon Conrad is used to the privileged life and has been trying to write a great novel.
In need of a place to stay he heads over to his friend Dylan Tate’s (Billy Crudup) place. They have a love/hate relationship and are always competing on some level.
On the way to Dylan’s place he meets a beautiful stranger on the subway, Beatrice Fairbanks (Olivia Wilde). He later discovers that she is Dylan’s girlfriend but this does not deter him from pursuing her. He falls in love with her and the two have a short lived romance.
When Dylan finds out about the affair he kicks Conrad out of his place. He then moves in with Beatrice which inevitably leads to the downfall of their romance.
It’s nice to see Jason Bateman in a different kind of role. It’s really hard to try to like his character though he is everything you expect a rich, spoilt man child to be. He is fickle and a snob and honestly quite irritating. There’s nothing worse than seeing a 40-year-old struggle to do the basics. Bateman did an OK job at this character portrayal.
Olivia Wilde is there to look pretty. In fact there are a number of shots that focus intently on her beautiful face. You don’t really get a feel for her character at all.
While it’s a beautiful movie to watch and there are some witty dialogue and smarty funny scenes it’s hard to really find the point of it all; the point of the story.
The movie comes off as pretentious and stuck-up just like the world it is set in.
