Movie Review - We Need to Talk About Kevin

We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

Starring Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Jasper Newell, and Ezra Miller

Directed by Lynne Ramsay

A woman loving life in her late twenties/early thirties perhaps reluctantly decides to settle down with someone with whom she's fallen in love.  She gets pregnant, but finds herself not feeling the maternal instinct kick in like other moms-to-be.  In the back of her mind, though, she thinks that maybe when she finally gives birth, she'll finally experience what she's "supposed to feel."  However, that innate propensity to love your offspring never kicks in for her and although she attempts to bond, it's obvious to her and obvious to her child as he grows older that this young being was never wanted.

While this all sounds like an impossibility, I'd have to imagine that it occurs more often than we'd think and We Need to Talk About Kevin explores this seldom discussed psychological phenomenon which, in this story's case, comes with great and horrific ramifications.  For Eva (Tilda Swinton), she could have never imagined that her difficult relationship with her son Kevin (Ezra Miller as a teenager and Jasper Newell as a young boy) would result in him committing the unthinkable act of going on a murderous school rampage days before his sixteenth birthday, but their tumultuous relationship appears to have been the impetus for just that.  

Fret not, I'm not spoiling anything with this important "reveal" above.  Director and co-screenwriter Lynne Ramsay pieces together Eva's life like a puzzle jumping around and sometimes staying with scenes for mere seconds before jumping to another.  Admittedly, this technique, while interesting, is off-putting at first if only because as the film progresses, Ramsay decides to stay with moments longer, trying to tell a story rather than trying to showcase a "directorial flourish."  The opening act, unfortunately, starts things off as more of a director's showcase instead of placing the story center stage which is pivotal in a film that is incredibly reliant on shaping complicatedly distraught and disturbed characters in order to progress the tale.  Couple this quick-cutting, jump-editing technique with Ramsay's near-incessant and blatantly obvious use of "red" to foreshadow Kevin's inevitable attack and I couldn't help but think the director brought this flick down a couple of notches from where it could have ended up.

Tilda Swinton is, as is the case most of the time, truly wonderful.  She can convey an incredible amount of emotion with nary a word.  Her eyes oftentimes appear blank and lifeless, yet on a second glance reveal more of the inner workings of her character than words ever could.  She's coupled onscreen by John C. Reilly as her husband Franklin, the more affable and parental of the two.  Reilly is quite good playing the most dramatic role I've seen him attempt and he manages very well.

The character of Kevin, however, is a bit of an anomaly to me.  I understand that the script wanted to present him as a "problem child" of sorts from the very beginning -- a kid who never received the love he so desperately needed from his mother -- but I couldn't help but think I was watching a modern-day reincarnation of Damien from The Omen.  He does some really whacked-out things (particularly as he grows older) and I just couldn't help but think that these parents wouldn't have been on the same page that something was dreadfully psychologically wrong with him.  Then again, the film is called We Need to Talk About Kevin and there's a difference between "needing to talk about" and actually "talking about" Kevin which I guess explains why their communication is next to nil.  The two young actors who portray Kevin do an admirable job, but I feel like they just weren't given a whole lot to work with beyond "You're a bad kid...don't show any emotions other than pent-up anger."

I'm sure the anticipation of this film may have built up something that couldn't be reached -- and, in fact, I was waiting to see this before starting the annual RyMickey Awards -- but I can't help but think another film released in 2011 about this exact same topic -- Beautiful Boy -- told a better and more realistic story.  Granted, that film dealt entirely with the aftermath of a school shooting whereas We Need to Talk About Kevin deals almost entirely with what comes before such an attack, but the little seen Maria Bello-starring picture deserves a bit more respect than Lynne Ramsay's pic which garnered more acclaim when awards season came around.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+