A fun thriller/drama/comedy/romance
AIROLF | USA | 10/13/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"A really well-done, twisted mystery-thriller-comedy, where the story is so good that you want to watch the film more than once. Having Alan Rickman as the grumpy old man, who gets what he has coming to him, is a great casting decision. Eliza Dushku is also very good in her role."
Tries a bit too hard to be cool but has some style
Roland E. Zwick | Valencia, Ca USA | 01/10/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Grad student Barkley Michaelson (Bryan Greenberg) is getting his PhD in cannibalism - not for actually eating his fellow man, mind you, but for studying those who do. This choice of topic doesn't sit very well with his dad, a hateful, arrogant college professor who's just been awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry and who wants his son to carry on his legacy after he`s gone. Unfortunately, as Professor Eli Michaelson is over in Stockholm gracelessly accepting his award, Barkley is back home in Pasadena being held for ransom by a crazed kidnapper. This is the setup for "Nobel Son," an Oedipal drama done in the form of a smart-alecky, wisecracking pitch dark comedy. Acting stalwarts Mary Steenburgen, Shawn Hatosy, Bill Pullman, Danny DeVito and Ted Danson round out the cast.
If there's one thing a filmmaker can't fake, it's "coolness" - yet that's the one thing writer/director Randall Miller keeps working so hard to achieve in "Nobel Son," a movie that too often comes across as a poor-man's version of Quentin Tarentino. Yet, despite that derivativeness, the movie's frenetic style - a mixture of razzle-dazzle camera and editing techniques, snarky black humor, and a pounding rock soundtrack - reveals that Miller has some real potential as a filmmaker. And a series of nifty plot twists in the final third go a long way towards mitigating any misgivings one may have harbored about the movie earlier on."
Very Dark Humor
Dawnelle | Buffalo, NY USA | 02/17/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This was a very dark humored film. It is definitely for adults only. There were violent and graphic scenes also sexual scenes. This film was a little too dark (in parts) for me but I'm sure others would enjoy it thoroughly. Alan Rickman must have had fun doing this role. The ending was worth waiting it."