We need to talk about We Need to Talk About Kevin

Cafe Society
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So my wife liked the book; as she read it, this mom was doing everything right, and still wound up raising a sociopath. Moral of the story, “shit happens,” or something like that.

Over the weekend we eagerly went to see the movie … and we both pretty much hated it. Firstly, because the bulk of the film seems to consist of close-ups of Tilda Swinson staring blankly at the camera. Gary Oldman was silent a lot in Tinker, Tailor, but it was because he was thinking, and wasn’t giving anything away. Here, it’s just … staring.

More fundamentally, it was an annoying film because the mother was a completely unsympathetic character. She seemed to make no real effort to bond with her child; pretty much right from the start, whenever the child behaved in a way she didn’t like or approve of, her response was to stare at the toddler in horror. She was a lousy mother and a thoroughly annoying person, and to me seemed more or less … if not deserving blame for Kevin, at least not wholly innocent.

Anyone else see this? Thoughts on book/movie?

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I thought it focused too much on Eva’s (Swinton’s character) self-flagellation - the cleaning, the staying in a town where she thinks everybody hates her, etc. It’s all from her viewpoint, so we can’t tell if the neighbors are really that hostile, if her husband was really that clueless, etc. But still, it wallows in her misery to the point that it’s quite unpleasant to watch.

Also, it freaked me out. This is a horror movie for those who are considering reproduction.