Upstream Color

"Pretentious" is a word that seems to be thrown around here and there in regards to anything that appears to act bigger and better than it really is. Here is one of the more recent offenders, Shane Carruth's Upstream Color.

Carruth seems as though he's trying to make a science-fiction drama with shades of David Lynch. In reality, it comes off as a cheesy student film desperately tries to be Lynchian, complete with bad acting, choppy editing, somber music, and a dreary color palette. It follows what seems to be an elaborate experiment involving two people brought together through circumstances that neither person can comprehend, and as a whole, that's what the film appears to be - just a long experiment put together by someone who thinks they're smarter than you.

The film's structure is intentionally uneven, and while it's succeeded in many films, it only looks deliberately confusing here. And the film's plot isn't even a very complex one, even if it wants to seem that way. Carruth tries too hard to appear clever and he comes off as the snobby smart kid in the classroom who'll mock you if you don't understand where he's coming from while his band of cronies blindly clap for him and agree with what he says. Unconventional styles of filmmaking certainly ought to be welcomed in this generation, but not when it's so painfully obvious how smug the creator is when presenting his work.

Like Carruth's first film, Upstream Color, in spite of all the undeserved acclaim, breaks no new ground, presents no interesting commentary or ideas, and is an unbelievable bore.