Movie Review

We Need to Talk About Kevin

                I truly wish we did not need to.  “We Need to Talk About Kevin” starring Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra miller and Jasper Newell, is set in a typical, developed town in the current time.  This thriller leaves you wondering what is going to happen next after nearly every scene.

                Eva, played by Swinton, is the main focus of this bundle of random scenes.  She wakes up one morning to find a spatter of red paint all over her front porch.  She begins cleaning and before you know it she is smashing tomatoes and throwing them in a joyous fashion.  We follow her throughout out the day having random flashbacks of her husband and of her son’s childhood.  Her little boy Kevin has problems with Eva right after birth.  He is continuously crying whenever she is within hearing distance and only stopping when his father, played by John C. Reilly is near.  This continues into to the toddler years when Kevin is in diapers and refuses to play ball with his mother.  He eventually drives his mom to a breaking point by emptying his bowels at a rather inopportune time.  He further frustrates his mother by using the toilet as soon as his father gets home.  As her day goes on, the scenes become more and more random.  After landing her new job Eva leaves with a smile and randomly gets struck across the face by a random woman.  At another point she is shopping in the grocery store, sees a different woman and immediately takes cover.  Eva later realizes this woman smashed all of her eggs.  As the movie progresses days go by, and flash backs continue to happen until Kevin is a teenager.  Throughout the flashbacks Kevin’s father supports Kevin’s archery skills.  He becomes accurate enough to shoot arrows into whatever or whoever he desires.  After the death of his little sister pet and an “accident” involving drain cleaner that his little sister loses her eye from, it is clear Kevin is not the innocent toddler his father remembers him as, and the little monster his mom has always known is now a big monster.   A rather creepy teenager played by Ezra Miller, overhears his parents talking about him and this drives him over the edge.

                The acting in this movie was rather good.  Swinton played her character incredibly well.  Her slight smiles after being hired or her awkwardness at the work party just fit the character perfect.  As such did Ezra Miller.  The teen delivered his lines in as a troubled teen would, very sarcastically towards his mother, and at times a bit creepy. I believe that although John C. Reilly had limited lines, a little more participation could have made the movie a little more entertaining.  His performance in comedies like Taledaga Nights, and Step Brothers were outstanding and he fit the roles perfectly.  I just do not believe this curly headed, goof ball fit the role of a troubled child’s father.

                The costume design was also very well put together.  Although her outfits and the outfits of others are very typical, that fit the bill perfectly.  The costumes made the characters feel like they were just a normal family, when really they were far from it.  Eva’s outfit in the tomato throwing scene also fit perfectly.  Although throughout the movie she is greasy, thin haired, and quite pale, in the tomato throwing scene she is young, short haired, dressed as a young person would be and just full of life.

                The editing was atrocious in this film.  The plot had no backbone or support for the view to rest upon.  I was in constant free fall not knowing what the heck was going on for the first half of the movie.  In one scene Eva is happy, smiling just because she got her new job and just after she gets slapped by an old lady.  In the beginning of the film the jumble of random scenes does not give us an idea of Eva’s character.  One moment she is young, enjoying life, and in the next she is scrubbing her front porch.

                This movie was a mental challenge to sit through.  You try to grasp what is going on in the current scene, and in the next scene, absolutely nothing occurs that has to do with the previous scene.  The movie does not build upon itself.  It is rather just a gathering of small clips that together are a thin plot with little purpose.  This film is valuable to those who enjoy being mentally challenged while they are trying to watch a movie.  The target audience is definitely adults with cognitive thinking abilities.  The film is great if you love to think and mentally strain yourself in your free time but for all the rest of us this is one of those movies that you may want to pass on.