While walking through the park, Stephen, played by Peter Dinklage, decides that the story of everyone he meets is probably good material… Opera. Also for a movie. Provided that such a story can still be told. Rebecca Miller, director of Love Without Warning, clearly has a problem with this particular element of filmmaking. Her recent works oscillate helplessly between romantic comedy and social drama, surprising with strange mood swings, confusing plot lines, and ultimately arriving at no conclusion. Even a cleaning duo like Anne Hathaway and Joanna Kulig couldn't solve such a written mess.
Seeing our actress in the company of the Oscar winner and “Game of Thrones” star is certainly one of the few circumstances that mitigates the controversial pleasure associated with watching “Love Without Warning.” Even Joanna Kulig's frequent screen presence and occasional Polish sentences won't prevent Rebecca Miller's comedy (With the Question Mark) from being like a visit to the dentist.
If movies were named after drinks, it would be… American actress Anne Hathaway I Peter Dinklage Must be approved “Diluted Woody Allen”. There's some flavor here, but no sophisticated textures, no aesthetic values, or even decent “effort.”
As in Latin soap operas: there is everything and nothing at the same time
Stephen (Dinklage) is an opera composer from New York suffering from an artistic crisis. During lavish banquets, he avoids his clients, and at home he wanders aimlessly around the room or hides under the covers. In his distress, he is supported by his wife, Patricia (Hathaway), a valued therapist obsessed with cleanliness and boundless faith in her husband's talent. At her instigation, the man went for a long walk one day, during which he met Katrina (Marisa Tomei) – A tugboat captain and sex addict (or maybe just a romantic) who, like a siren, lures random lovers to her boat.
As Steven gets to know the stranger better, he suddenly has an epiphany. Consciously or not, Katerina becomes his muse, which will lead to unexpected consequences in the composer's private and professional life. For the director, a love triangle is not enough, so she also adds the plot of teenagers in love. Julian (Evan Ellison(He is Stephen's stepson and the son of Patricia and Teresa)Harlow Jane(with his mother Magdalena)Joanna Coleg(Lives under a tree roof)Brian d'Arcy James). The girl's mother works as a cleaner in Patricia's house, which increases the class differences between the two families. At some point, the relationships between them all will take an unexpected and even dramatic path.
The director and screenwriter also tried to cram a number of characters and plots straight from Latin soap operas into an hour and a half movie. Unfortunately, “Love Without Warning” presents a similar artistic level. Rebecca Miller has absolutely no control over the plot chaos.
The multiplicity of events appearing on screen means that there is no time to deepen the characters' features and their interrelationships. Individual strands appear underdeveloped and torn. When Miller remembers back to them, they no longer have any emotional charge and lead to completely absurd conclusions. Basically, there is nothing tight here, although the director stubbornly seeks to connect all individual stories in the end. Even if you used all the tape from the local supermarket for this purpose, the movie's story would fall apart badly in the end.
Between comedy and drama, it's really nowhere
An equally great contrast can be seen not only in the plot, but also in the genre inspiration. In theory, Love Without Warning is the closest thing to a romantic comedy. But one of two or three decades ago, when the so-called “rom-coms” were so overwhelmed by an excess of characters and plots, that they had to be combined into a greater whole according to the well-worn cliche “Love has many things.” Names.” On the one hand, it's nice that Miller makes a sudden U-turn at some point and tries to enter completely different emotional zones. On the other hand, he does it in such a clumsy way that you can get lost in the constant shifting of moods and tones.
Because in “Love…” there are elements of a serious moral drama. Especially when Magdalena's husband and Teresa's stepfather come into the picture – a racist and nationalist who, at one point, terrorizes his family and sits comfortably in the seat of a domestic tyrant. This doesn't really fit with the light-hearted tradition Miller initially opted for, and it certainly clashes with the droning ending, which doesn't tie up all the threads. This genre and narrative confusion makes it unclear how this film is perceived and what it is supposed to be. Yes, there's a lot of content about finding yourself, your freedom, your love, and your place on Earth, but already halfway through the movie, it's hard to get anyone interested in this speculation.
Joanna Kulig offers advice. Just like the rest of the cast. But it's no use anyway
If there's anything, or rather anyone, to focus on here, it's the actors. With New York in the lead role – far removed from the glamor of the city, far away and floating in the background as in Allen's aforementioned works. But the difference is that in the case of the famous director, his beloved city has always managed to feature in the plot layer. In Miller's case, this unconventional “New Yorkerness” is merely attractive decoration. However, the truly great actors remained unadorned in their roles. In individual scenes, Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei, and Anne Hathaway exude genuine class, but the perfunctory script ultimately undercuts their characters in an almost brutal way. This is perhaps most evident in the example of Hathaway's character. What Miller does with her character is just a mockery and a “slap” directed at the viewer.
How does Joanna Kulig defend herself against the background of Hollywood stars? First of all, her acting is not about collecting crumbs from the acting table. There's a lot of it in the film, and up to a certain point its heroine can be really interesting. Of course, you might roll your eyes again at the sight of a Polish woman working as a cleaner for the newly wealthy Americans, and your ears might perk up at the broken English (which is not a Coolig “feature,” but a deliberate one by the screenwriter). But the truth is that the actress, who made her way at the international level through “Care” and above all through the “Cold War”, is not inferior to her stars in talent.
We cannot talk about Rebecca Miller's lack of directorial talent, although the author of “Love Without Warning” did not provide many arguments in her defense. There are a lot of themes, simplifications, shameful simplifications and ridiculous solutions in her film. In one sentence: too many movies in one movie. However, there is not enough real emotions, skillfully told stories and pure cinematic entertainment, which is what a film of this type should offer or even come close to a romantic comedy. Love can really come without warning. However, it is worth warning about this film.
