Awesome Movie

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Cristian Mungiu is considered one of the fathers of New Romanian Cinema, with his 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS abortion drama being the most famous to come out after the fall of the Soviet Union. Mungiu is more cinematic than some of the directors of the movement (his last movie, BEYOND THE HILLS was a devil possession tale), although still austere.The superb GRADUATION builds along slowly, but deliberately. In the end, the movie is about corruption, but, the steps it takes seem as minor as an offhand conversation here, a nod there. But, that's how things work in a corrupt society. GRADUATION may not quite build to the level of the brilliant Russian film LEVIATHAN, but, they share a quietly devastating portrayal of the bankruptcy of the old Soviet system. Sadly, that system seems to have been replaced in name only.

It raises some interesting issues: divorce, teens future, infidelity, rape, pregnancy, harassment neighborhood, up to foniatric problems... The problem is that not solves nothing.Aside from the above, the entire film takes place in a permanent whisper, without change of intonation of none of the characters.It is not badly acted, is not misdirected, but is not going anywhere.

Noted Actor(s)Romeo (Adrian Titieni) | Eliza (Maria-Victoria Dragus)Characters & StorylineFrom the way Dr. Romeo paints Romania, you could understand why he would want his daughter Eliza to go to school as far away as the UK. He makes it seem riddled with corruption and criminals roaming the streets, a place he should have never returned to but he thought he could change it. So with all that in mind, he is willing to do whatever it takes so when Eliza takes her final exams, her pending scholarship to a prestigious UK university will be paid for and guaranteed. However, the world he fears the corruption of gets to her before she can escape.HighlightsFor The Sake of the Children vs. The Sake of the CountryOne of the things I found interesting within this movie, though sadly isn't a strong focus, is the idea of whether it is best to send your children to a foreign country to learn and plant roots vs. them perhaps getting a foreign education and returning home with that knowledge. The reason this was of interest is because Romeo really paints Romania as a terrible place. Yet his mother asks, why would you push her to leave and never return? If girls like her don't return, what hopes are there for the country to become better? An idea which, with Donald Trump soon to be the President of the USA, is an interesting one. For many have threatened, though likely not have followed through, to immigrate to different countries to avoid the consequences of his presidency. Yet, relating to this movie, if those who seem capable of creating change or at least crafting hope leave and never return, what does that mean for a country's future?This topic, unfortunately, is mentioned only a handful of times and isn't made anything which most may find noteworthy. However, in a sea of one mundane moment to the next, it was perhaps the one intriguing thought this movie presented.CriticismFrom The Assault, Affair, and Corruption, Everything Is MundaneIt's very weird when a person is assaulted, borderline raped, there is an affair in a movie, and there is a slew of corruption and even an investigation into it, yet there isn't one thing which can be considered exciting. Each character, and perhaps the story itself, almost seems like it is downplaying all of these events. The assault isn't treated as something huge, just a hindrance to Eliza getting the grades she needs to guarantee her getting into university. The affair plot is all but accepted and with neither woman involved happy, nor you understanding how and why they fell in love with Romeo, again there isn't something to really get and keep your attention.Leaving the political corruption. As Romeo tries to figure out a way to give his daughter an edge, he deals with a customs agent, introduced by a police chief, who wants a liver for a favor. Leading to the test administrator being involved and while this all may be a minor scandal, a doctor pushing for an official to get a liver to help his daughter get high marks on a test, everything is handled without a hint of sensationalism, enthusiasm, or anything to snag your attention. Which if this movie was simply an hour, maybe even an hour and a half, that would be unfortunate. But with it being two hours long and none of these usually interesting or at least devastating to watch topics being of interest, that is a damn shame.On The FenceThere Aren't Any Bad Performances, Per seIt's kind of weird to say in a movie so dull there aren't bad performances. To me, I'm just so used to someone taking the lead, being passionate, conniving, or even comical. Yet, like Loving, in some ways, no one tries to step forward and stand out. For even if Romeo has the most scenes, the writing and performance doesn't make him seem like what you'd expect from a lead actor. If anything, he more so seems like he is part of an ensemble and is just taking on more of the movie's focus due to one of the other actors being sick, having schedule conflicts, or simply being unreliable.Overall: Negative (Skip It)As noted, across many a review, passionate performances, troubled or worrisome childhoods, comedic moments, that is what I live for. That, nine times out of ten, is what excites me no matter if it is a book, movie, TV show, video game, or a theatrical production. Yet, despite this movie having many elements of what usually leads to good performances and an entertaining experience, it falls short. It falls off a cliff actually. However, it doesn't necessarily seem bad. It is just that the movie takes a path not often tread and the lack of emotion, someone with charisma, and no one who really snags you makes it hard to be faithful to a two-hour movie. So, while I want to say this is something which is Mixed, I have to give it a negative rating.

This must be one of the slowest, pointless and most disappointing movies I have ever seen. The creator probably had an idea for a story but stopped right there. If this was a 10 min 2nd year project in film school, it might have passed, but at 2:08 (that's 2 HOURS and 8 min!) its just a very poor excuse for the "quality foreign film" label. Every scene is dragged to at least 10 times what should have been its length. The questions the film is meant to deal with - parenting, Ideals, morals, state vs. citizen - are lost in vector-less hovering of each and every character. I would gladly have written a spoiler but I can think of no way to spoil this any further.