The Leisure Class (2015) Reviews

• A comedy without comedy

  jrodway2015-11-03

  It's hard to review a comedy that isn't funny. I will confess to being a fan of Project Greenlight including the season that featured The Leisure Class. I actually wasn't sure what to expect from the movie and certainly there were some scenes that jumped out because of being a focus in the HBO series. It was familiar like watching a movie filmed in your hometown. There are probably many technically correct elements about The Leisure Class that are good. I don't claim any film artistry. It doesn't have the feel of a lower budget movie which is to the movie's credit. What's missing is humor. It's just not funny. Maybe it's the script, the story, the characters or something else but it just lacks. Skip the movie, watch Project Greenlight and hope for better results next time. It has to work one of these days.

• The Emperor Has No Clothes

  IboChild2015-11-04

  As a general rule, film audiences couldn't care less about what goes into the making of a motion picture. They don't care about the budget, the shooting schedule, or the relationship between cast, crew and the production staff. All they care about is the film itself. Of course, since the ins and outs of production of "The Leisure Class" was revealed as part of the reality series, "Project Greenlight," the "behind the scenes" activity of this movie is of greater interest. The relationship between Jason Mann, the co-writer and director of this film, and Effie Brown, one of the line producers, has been a topic of much discussion. Was Jason Mann an auteur whose artistic vision was being compromised by a producer that was more concerned with completing the film on time and under budget? Or was Jason Mann simply an egoistical brat whose sense of entitlement far outweighed his talent? Despite the challenges that the project faced, if "The Leisure Class" turned out to be a great film, all would be forgiven. Let's not forget that Francis Ford Coppola was almost fired as the director of "The Godfather," which turned out to be one of the greatest American films of all time. On the other hand, if "The Leisure Class" is not a good film, the fault lies squarely with the director. While he didn't get everything he wanted (what filmmaker does?), he got way more than one would expect from a first time feature director. First of all, he got to do is own script as opposed to the script that was selected by the production. He also got the additional money to shoot it on film. Also, thanks to Ms. Brown, he even got an extra day of shooting to address some issues with the film. The film was budgeted in the $3 million range, while small compared to a major theatrical release, is significantly larger than the budgets for other first time directors. For example, "Short Term 12," Destin Daniel Cretton's award-winning film, was made for less than $1 million. Kimberly Peirce's "Boys Don't Cry" (which Mann inexplicably wanted to hire Pierce's co-writer as his writing partner on a comedy) was made for $2 million. "Pariah," a first feature by Dee Rees, won a cinematography award at Sundance despite being made for less than $500,000. Christopher Nolan made "Following" for significantly less (and it was shot on film!). If "The Leisure Class" failed as a production it is not because the budget was too low or because one element (such as a stunt highlighted in "Project Greenlight") didn't work out quite as planned. If a film is compelling, an audience will overlook quite a bit. In most any first feature, one can find shortcomings and missteps, but if the filmmaker is talented, one can usually find some indication of that talent. To his credit, Jason Mann knows where to place a camera and judging from "Project Greenlight," he appears to know his way around the set. Unfortunately, judging from "The Leisure Class," there is very little else to indicate that Jason Mann has any talent as a writer and director. The biggest problem with the film is a lack of character development. This is particularly true of the female characters, who are mostly passive and appear to be there only to serve the men. Fiona is woefully underdeveloped and whose behavior is based on the dictates of the script without regard to logic. This is particularly troubling, because Fiona is the obvious access character to help audiences to care about what is going on. In general, the characters don't behave like living and breathing human beings. Less of a problem, but still important, is a lack of a cohesive structure and narrative. Without a clear sense of direction, the whole film seems pointless. The film also can't seem to decide if it's a dark comedy, farce or some sort of psychological drama. The result is an awkward mix of several genres. Last, but not least, "The Leisure Class" is dull and humorless. It Nothing in this film was even remotely funny. It's as if the writers thought it was enough for people with British and high brow accents to say outrageous things to be funny. It's not. For example, when the butler says that someone has "defecated on the Bentley," it's obviously designed to be funny, but instead it just comes across as bizarre. The line also makes absolutely no sense within the context of the film. Perhaps Jason Mann's experience here will lead to work as a journeyman or "gun for hire." But as an artist, there's absolutely no indication that he's a "Coppola" in the making. If his appearance on "Project Greenlight" is any indication, he places too great an importance on the "look" of the film and not enough on communicating with an audience. Personally, when I look at a film, it matters little if it was shot digitally or on film. It can be in color or black and white. The image can be grainy, even out of focus at times. I can even tolerate uneven performances. If the story is intriguing and/or the characters are engaging, I can overlook a film's technical shortcomings. The aforementioned "Boys Don't Cry" was a prime example. More technically polished films have been made, but few have its emotional power. Hopefully, "Project Greenlight" will revise their selection process in the future to promote filmmakers who actually have something compelling to say. The Sundance Institute which has had an excellent track record of nurturing compelling, modestly budgeted artist-driven films is perhaps the best example of a program that nurtures new talent. Over the years, Sundance has developed such diverse projects as "Real Women Have Curves" (which Effie Brown co-produced), "Requiem for a Dream," "Fruitvale Station," "Maria Full of Grace," "Paradise Now," "Love and Basketball," "Beasts of the Southern Wild," and "Boys Don't Cry."

• Pretentious, Immature, and Painfully Dull

  ekorling2015-11-02

  I watched all of the Project Greenlight episodes leading up to this film and found that I was as disappointed as I had expected that I would be. Jason Mann struck me as a film school prima donna, and his inability to be practical during the pre-production, production, and post-production of this film in borne out by the final cut of the film that I watched this evening (November 2, 2015) on HBO. One of the key demands he made and stuck to during pre-production (while he was also struggling to come up with a script, filmable or not) was that this simply had to be shot on actual film for artistic purposes. There was nothing about the final cut that in any way necessitated the cost (monetary or otherwise) of film over digital. The actors did as well as they could with such a "precious" and pretentious script concocted by a newbie director who is far too artsy-fartsy and far too little practical for his own emotional and narrative immaturity. There is no sense of emotional investment or payoff with any of the characters, and the look of resignation and sadness of the main character's face as the film ends is perhaps more honestly a reflection of the actor on the disaster that was the shooting of this little nothingness called The Leisure Class than it was some deep or meaningful realization of the character himself of the situation of which he has agreed to be a part. One simply does not care that he has won the girl by jointly selling out his and her love to have the material wealth the was wrung from the desperate hands of her legacy-haunted father. Nothing deep or meaningful worth speaking here. A plodding, dull, insipid attempt at being artsy rather than engaging and entertaining. It is a combination of a pubescent indulgence in inanity with the pretense of sophistication that comes from watching one or two Masterpiece Theater shows. Jason Mann has proved himself to be too big for his britches, and if he does get another chance to direct something with someone else's money, it would be interesting to see if he has learned anything about being a practical rather than a pretentious storyteller.

• Effie Brown was right all along

  bettyguertler2015-11-05

  This movie is a disaster from start to finish. It made me lose a lot of faith in Len Amato at HBO, as he was constantly saying how great the script was getting and that Jason Mann "was a real film maker." Maybe he is, but this entire project is no indication of that. The only truth tellers here were Effie Brown, and Ben Affleck who at least had the courage and diplomatic phrasing to say "this is not my taste, and he's going to have to stand behind this movie even more based on how hard he fought." I'll briefly hit some points, because spending too much time on this trite nonsense is a waste. 1. The script is terrible. The characters are derivative and uninspired. What was all the love for Pete Jones about? There is nothing quality about any of the writing. Not one single line. 2. The camera work is weak to say the least. The framing for most shots is off, which is something that should keep this DP from ever working again. Mann fought so hard for film (which was totally irrelevant when you see how basic and style free the movie looks), when he should have fought for a DP with vision and style. Instead he got a boring looking movie with no visual spark. 3. It is not funny. They kept calling this a comedy of manners, ala Oscar Wilde. But Oscar Wilde was a wordsmith and could turn a phrase like no other. The writing here is boring, derivative, and imagination free. Additionally, note to Jason Mann, accents alone do not make comedy. While he loved the improvisation coming from his two lead males, nothing they improvised was funny. There was nothing coming out of their mouths that was unique or special, their own kind of comedy, ala Robin Williams. Even the wild situations were not funny. Just an epic fail on ever level comedy-wise and story-wise (Hey Mann, that is a Billy Wilder reference. You should look into his work, he was funny, and clean funny, not rim-job unfunny.) 4. Lack of diversity. This is perhaps where Effie Brown was the most right. In what political dynasty world do those involved have no black or brown friends and colleagues? You need a diverse pot to win elections. And yeah, it was supposed to be the north east, WASP country, but there are still black folks up there. It was not the only thing Effie was right about, obviously. But it was indeed glaring. If you had no party scenes, a single location flick with a cast of 5, you could get away with an all white cast. But when you have a sea of background, you can pepper it with a reality based group. Even the guy in the car accident could have been a person of color. But even he was white. This is another element of director failure. He needed to step up and address this, which would have taken 5 seconds. In the end, this is easily the worst of all the Project Greenlight films, and that is saying a lot. It makes you truly question the value of the entire contest and those picking the winner. I understand you want a reality show to have drama, but trust me, even a good movie has drama behind the scenes. Perhaps even more drama than this had. And wouldn't it have been grand if the production was wrought with strife and in the end, this young director delivered a gem? Oh, what could have been.

• The script needs a rework. You gotta start with a good script.

  dwf-815072015-11-03

  The characters suddenly "change" throughout the film, inconsistently and illogically - there is no "why." For instance, at the beginning of the movie, William/Charles is in it for the money. A little later on, he becomes overly critical of his fiancé, Fiona... and earns her wrath. Yet, if his motives are monetary, why would he do this? And then, he "loves" her... Huh? I'm not faulting the acting. It's the writing. There is no reason for the characters to grow and change. Their arcs just appear out of nowhere. There is an eventual peeling back Charles' grifter-like nature and a reveal of his moral/kind underbelly. Not too badly done... (except for the out-of-the-blue change for the better regarding his relationship with Leonard, his brother, at the end). I suppose the change in William/Charles was intended to be juxtaposed with a peeling back of Fiona's family members' socially correct demeanor and impeccable lineage to reveal a quite improper (lots of expletives), false (lots of dissatisfaction), and even "grifter-like" side (in the case of Fiona) true nature. Unfortunately, it all falls flat and is little more than a fait accompli through the use of conclusory dialog. There are no motivations. There is no real character angst and growth. Too bad. Likable characters, likable actors. But a very tepid end result. Even the music was one-note... Insult was added to injury by the use of gratuitous shock-value elements that were totally out of place and overdone... The "licking" that was to occur is but one, small example. Shame on you, Jason Mann - twice (as co-writer and director). The film looked nice enough. All of your suffering (film versus video, locale, night/day, the car crash... and even Ms Browns' overblown tangles with you) were for naught. A good movie begins with a good script and ends with good storytelling. Unfortunately, neither was present in your film.