Platicsco
Good story, Not enough for a whole film
Humbersi
The first must-see film of the year.
Hadrina
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
howie73
This must be one of the most underrated films of all time. I first saw this in 1997 after seeing Heavenly Creatures, a film which many critics have found superior to Fun. However, I found Fun far more impressive than Heavenly Creatures. The acting, camera-work and score are on target. Moving between black and white camera-work to signify the present predicament of its two protagonists, Hilary (Alicia Witt) and Bonnie (Renée Humphrey) in a detention center, and lurid color (the past), the film expertly entangles the viewer in the labyrinthine world of these two murderers. The director manages to portray both girls sympathetically at times only to pull the rug towards the end where the horrific murder is shown. The anti-linear structure is quite ingenious because it never allows the audience to feel superior or all-knowing in our view of the girls. But the horrific reality of the murder makes us question what we have already seen. This is by far Rafal Zielinski best work and proof he could rise above the lowbrow trash he made in the 80s.
tedg
Spoilers herein.Regular readers of my comments will know how rare it is that care about an actor, but how redheads have been used fascinates me. And Alicia Witt so captured "Dune" and "Leibestraum" that I had to sit up and remark out loud to strangers.So I have been interested in her work. Some of it has been just showing up, some has actually used her as an icon because of Dune.This (and arguably "Mona Lisa") is the only place she has been called upon to act. She shows the degree of commitment and controlled abandon that marks the great ones. I was impressed with what she did here. She must have really given some bad readings to have not gotten parts after this. Or possibly there is another reason.At any rate, this is good. The story is structured in a clever way as well, though not particularly novel. We have a (magazine) documentary embedded in a (film) documentary. The "reality" is in flashback, and the intelligent core of the predecessor play deals with constructed reality. The director is lost. He doesn't quite know how to create and exploit the nesting of stories. And he lets Alicia get away with too much jumping and not enough internal focus. The game-parlor collage is trite.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 4: Has some interesting elements.
hansornot
Fun is personally my favorite film. This is a risky film to stand by with a claim like that, but in my opinion Alicia Witt has never been greater and before taking on more fun, low brow roles, proved herself an incredibly gifted actress. Bonnie's psychosis (or perhaps unsettling lack thereof) is brought to life with a combination of intensity and whimsy and like similarly antiheroic characters leaves us questioning where we are morally. You cannot advocate the behavior, but there's a potency to the role that makes you almost excuse it in your weaker moments. Renee Humphrey is an interesting counterbalance to Witt in that sympathy is easier to find with her character, though I must admit that the personal magnetism is most visible in Bonnie. To quote Bonnie, "Fun is number one".
mythology789
I saw this film a while back and parts of the film stick in my mind...i wish i could see it again but its real hard to find. I had to call a bunch of places for this movie.The film is basically about two girl who meet up one day and later kill someone...thats all said in the beginning so i am not giving anything away...I think it has a great performance by Alicia Witt (she will be better know in the future ..Mark my words) and renee humphrey...its in black and white, And basically its about friendship and being a little crazy..i say see the film, is worth it, if you can find it...the picture on the video cover of this film is cool..its alicia witt with a bunch of blood on her face..any picture like that is cool with me!
