The Sea of Trees (2015)

[IRONicmerMAN 391]

This one looks like a good candidate for HDTGM. Full of talent, though bathed in garbage.

 

https://en.wikipedia...he_Sea_of_Trees

 

Some of the reviews are...breathtaking. It's not even out yet.

• The Sea of Trees was panned by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 0%, based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 2.4/10. At its May 2015 debut at the Cannes Film Festival, the film was met with harsh critical reception; it was loudly booed and laughed at by an audience of critics, with critic Scott Foundas calling it a film "for nobody."
  
• Critic Richard Mowe stated this audience reaction should "give the film’s creative team pause for reflection about exactly where they went so badly awry."
  
• Justin Chang, chief film critic for Variety, deemed the film "dramatically stillborn, commercially unpromising"
  
• "Almost impressive in the way it shifts from dreary two-hander to so-so survival thriller to terminal-illness weepie to M. Night Shyamalan/Nicholas Sparks-level spiritual hokum, this risibly long-winded drama is perhaps above all a profound cultural insult, milking the lush green scenery of Japan’s famous Aokigahara forest for all it’s worth, while giving co-lead Ken Watanabe little to do other than moan in agony, mutter cryptically, and generally try to act as though McConaughey’s every word isn’t boring him (pardon the expression) to death."
  
• "complete lack of narrative momentum, it all adds up to a film that's easily Van Sant's worst, and is a sad black mark on McConaughey's mostly excellent recent run. Ultimately, "Sea of Trees" feels like an entirely appropriate title: it makes you feel like you're drowning, and it's full of sap."
  

[RyanSz 3140]

It's amazing how badly a movie starring Matthew McConaughey, Ken Watanabe, and Naomi Watts, and directed by Gus Van Zant can go, but The Sea of Trees finds a way to do so. McConaughey is a professor who goes to the Suicide Forrest in Japan and meets another suicidal man played by Watanabe. While it would seem that this would be the perfect setup for a hard drama about coming to terms with ones life and the lives of those you love, this is in fact a meandering mess that gets into M. Nigh Shaymalan levels of absurdity. In the end it really doesn't know what type of movie it is and it would be a chore to watch if it wasn't for the fact that the viewer gets drawn in to the overall suckiness of this movie. This movie was actually up for the Palme d'Or at Cannes, but made headlines for the audience loudly booing and laughing at it during the first screening. Although I doubt the show would cover it as Katie Asleton has a part in the film, it is interesting to see how this movie went so wrong.