Funny Games (2007)

I am planning to do a different route and review top 25 lists in the future but time ran out so I am reviewing the movie I watched this week.

I watched Funny Games a few years ago but I think I was distracted and didn't approach it with a critical eye. It may be a good thing that I didn't at the time.

IMDB states for the description of Funny Games: "Two psychopathic young men take a family hostage in their cabin."

Now I want to start with a disclaimer that I love home intrusion movies. The thought of your safety being ruined by anything is terrifying. Home should be your safe place and there should be nothing unwanted that invades that space. That is why movies like The Strangers, Inside, You're Next, or Panic room work so well.

Funny Games starts off with an upper class family, played her by Naomi Watts, Time Roth and Devon Clearhart, drive to a lake property. Almost immediately they get a visit from a young man Peter (Brady Corbet in a great performance) that is introduced as a friend of a neighbor. From the moment he enters the home of our family we know that things are not all right. He is joined by his co nemesis Paul (played by the always creepy Michael Pitt).

The moment they are in the families home our villains set off a horrible 12 hours for our characters.

I am dedicated to making sure my reviews are spoiler free. With that I will say that there is a lot of nothing happening in my opinion. There is the start of what could be some horrible situations but they seem to not come to fruition.

There is also a lot of breaking the 4th wall in this movie. The hardest thing I had with this movie though is the characters. All of our family members are in a crisis and yet they seem to not know or care. The moments that really tore me apart seemed to have little to no significance to the characters. They go through slow movements and I feel were supposed to create a tension that the audience was supposed to buy. Unfortunately, I didn't buy and I wanted a refund.

This is a shot-for-shot remake, even the sets were reused, of the directors 1997 version of the same film. The director wanted to show audiences his "moralistic comment about the influence of media violence on society". The ending included one of the most worse twists. I know there was a moral message I was supposed to feel. The problem was none of the characters were feeling it either so I could not connect with them.

Streaming:
This is streaming currently on HBO. It is also available for rent for 2.99 on all other services.

Rating:
2 out of 5 skulls. Reason:concept and Michael Pitt