SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Dan1863Sickles This movie is pretty bad, but not as bad as I thought it would be. Gus Van Sant is a guy I really hate because his movie EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUES ruined one of the best books I ever read. (Read the book by Tom Robbins, it's amazing.)So I assumed going in that Van Sant meeting Kurt Cobain was going to be a typical Van Sant massacre, a Bambi Meets Godzilla orgy of artistic self-indulgence with Gus doing Kurt "his way." And I was right. But strangely, if you give this movie a chance it's not all that bad. The condescending, one-note story line, (helpless, fragile, beautiful boy dies slowly while drainers, users, liars, and cheats circle like vultures), is rendered poetic and even poignant by the sheer artistry of the camera work and the striking visual images. It's a great achievement, in a way. Gus Van Sant can convey despair better with a single shot of tall grass than another director could with ten pages of dialogue. You have to give him credit, in a way.Lost in all the dreamy doom and damnation, however, is the disturbing sense that Gus really doesn't know much about Kurt Cobain . . . other than that he was a beautiful boy who died. (And therefore the perfect object of desire?) Even though Michael Pitt (later to become a legend as Jimmy Darmody in HBO's BOARDWALK EMPIRE) gives an incredibly charismatic and nuanced performance, there's nothing here to suggest the dynamic energy of a charismatic and rebellious dynamo who changed the music world forever. Whatever music you hear is only to underline the despair, not the talent.Meanwhile, the outside world, (the squares, the straights, and always and above all the women) are dismissed as irrelevant and grotesque, monsters who just don't love our beautiful boy enough. This is sheer laziness. The cheap shots at Mormons and traveling salesmen would have been stale on a vaudeville stage one hundred years ago. But Van Sant can get away with it, because by God he's a real artist with a dreamy touch. All that art in the service of so much self-indulgence.

gotohoward I could barely watch it. I'm into film, and fascinated with Kobain and Nirvana. His death circumstances are questionable by some. This film is 95% watching what amounts to a bum wandering around. I'm not sure I even think Grunge is cool after watching this. It's dirty self-serving vagrant stuff. The guy who I'm guessing was supposed to be Kobain acts depressed, crazy, selfish, and rude. I watched some real interviews of Kobain, and even if it were his last days on heroin and mind melted, it's insulting to make him seem stupid and jacked off like this movie did. Kobain was far from it. So, it's not accurate in any shape or form. They just used the film name, setting and character as a ripoff to sell product. If I were the estate, I'd sue. I wrote this review because that's how bad I felt this movie was even though it's old now and there are like 265 other reviews. I guess a lot of people think this is a masterpiece because of the director. He was having a bad year when he set this movie up, because it's tripe. Good luck if you want to give it a look. There are maybe two songs in it that are mildly worth listening to. (Add Note: People who loved this movie and possibly see my review, and think I didn't get it. I got it. An hour plus movie to show someone lost in their own fame, and the degradation of their soul could have been 15 minutes long. If this was supposed to be even loosely the man, or any man for that matter, who was supposed to be the voice of a generation...God help us).

jeannine-17 The movie needs a story and dwells on morose and dingy themes of growing insanity. If you wanted a movie to capture what it must have felt like to ***BE Kurt Kobaine then BINGO this is your movie. If you want to be entertained look elsewhere. This is a train wreck. No story ... No story ... No story ... No story ... NO STORY. You can make the same points but have a story.Some small sections of music make this tolerable. The scenery is awesome.Why did I waste my time? It is like looking at a car wreck you just can't help it

josh-mbsinc I'm all for movies that start off slow and build to something... This movie starts off slow, gets slower, then gay, then slow and then over. Biggest piece of crap ever to be put on film. How did they get funding for this? The meeting must have gone like thisGUS VAN SANT: You really should consider investing in this film. It's going to be ground breaking! The world wants to know what happened and see how Kurt spent his last days.MOVIE PRODUCER AND INVESTORS: We agree it sounds like this project could have legs. What do you have in mind?GUS VAN SANT: Well we start off with BLAKE (we won't use his real name to keep it interesting) MOVIE PRODUCER AND INVESTORS: Oooooooh how creativeGUS VAN SANT: Yes I know. Anyway BLAKE will be walking through the woods muttering to himself, then he will walk around his house muttering to himself. This leads to BLAKE entering his house putting on a dress and muttering to himself. MOVIE PRODUCER AND INVESTOR: Okay... (hesitant) GUS VAN SANT: Yes better than okay, he will then talk to random people that knock on his door. Well I shouldn't say talk because he actually only...MOVIE PRODUCER AND INVESTORS: Mutters to himself?GUS VAN SANT: Perfect that will work, I was stuck on that part for days, thanks. Alright so we show BLAKE dressed exactly like Kurt writing and muttering, doing drugs...InterruptedMOVIE PRODUCER AND INVESTORS: Oh so then the scene changes to some neat sort of modern hallucination kind of crazy ala fear and loathing or requiem for a dream. NiceGUS VAN SANT: NO! BLAKE will simply fall asleep to a Boys to Men video. What do you suits think, that this is a movie thats meant to entertain and enlighten!?MOVIE PRODUCER AND INVESTORS: Sorry I guess we got excited for a minute there. Please continueGUS VAN SANT: As I was saying BLAKE does drugs and falls asleep, we will cut to him playing with a gun and muttering to himself, checking on other people in the house muttering to himself. Then we will let the other members of the house wake up and...InterruptedMOVIE PRODUCER AND INVESTORS: Oh they try to help him? Get really deep and emotional? Talk about the future and how important he is?GUS VAN SANT: NO! They just leave without speaking to him. That is far more exciting.MOVIE PRODUCER AND INVESTORS: Sorry I guess we got excited again. You were sayingGUS VAN SANT: (GIVES A MEAN LOOK AND PAUSES) After they leave we continue to follow BLAKE as he does things like make cereal for himself while muttering, makes macaroni and cheese while muttering and so on until the the others return. (SCANS THE ROOM TO MAKE SURE NO ONE INTERRUPTS)GUS VAN SANT: When the other return they will play music... but not just any music A terrible song, they will dance and see BLAKE but not speak to him. we musn't let BLAKE show any depth after all he is only the main character.MOVIE PRODUCER AND INVESTORS: Yes of course absolutely no depth whatsoever it's perfect.GUS VAN SANT: I know, now comes a little gay sex scene and.InterruptedMOVIE PRODUCER AND INVESTORS: Excuse me? What... what does gay sex have to do with anything in this story?GUS VAN SANT: GAY SEX HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH MOVIE!(GUS stares blankly)GUS VAN SANT: Let me finish without any more interruptions!(GUS pauses looks upset)GUS VAN SANT: Now AFTER... the gay sex Blake will continue to do arbitrary useless tasks while muttering to himself. There will be a brief talk between him and one of his friends. They will talk about nothing, the conversation will only last a few minutes, make no sense and have no contribution to any characters or the movie. Finally the others leave again, leaving BLAKE to sing a song (mostly mutters of course) our actor will do a horrible impression of Curt (just to make it interesting) and he will walk away muttering to himself until the gardener finds him in his his out building on the property dead.MOVIE PRODUCER AND INVESTORS: Wait we don't show him holding the gun or crying getting ready to commit suicide? No looking at photo's or anything. We don't get a last look at him before he does it? Or for shock value maybe show some of it like a wall splattered with blood?! NothingGUS VAN SANT: (Sighs) I can see you don't get it. This film is obviously to real for you. It shows all the pointless crap he did during his last days. Nothing real or important that would be to conformist and expected, now on the other hand, wandering aimlessly and muttering to yourself... That's Entertainment. (PAUSES ANXIOUSLY WAITING)GUS VAN SANT: Also I have pictures of all of you cheating on your wives with hookers!MOVIE PRODUCER AND INVESTORS: Okay, let me get my checkbook. We can start production immediately!