Live from TIFF: Reclaim Your Brain
Reclaim Your Brain **1/2
Directed by Hans Weingartner
141 Minutes
We've made it. The final film. Magic number 45.
I saw Hans Weingartner's last film "The Edukators"-which there is a sly reference too in the middle of this one-about two years ago. I liked most of it, but was a little upset by the first half. But once it started becoming about something, it really picked up. "Reclaim Your Brain" is a satire on reality television, and the minds of people who watch television. It starts off with a genius mock reality show "Make Your Super Baby" where a bunch of guys put their sperm in a tube, and whose ever gets to the end quicker has the best genes. This show is produced by coke addicted Rainer, but after a car accident by Anna who is convinced an action by Rainer led to the death of her grandfather, he begins to see the error of his ways. He is part of the trend that is killing the minds of America. With the help of Anna, a man named Philip, and a series of others, they plot to rig the ratings to get intelligent and smart shows on the air. Meanwhile the stations notice the change-less people are watching television-and begin to get curious.
Don't get me wrong. The film is quite entertaining. It has some moments of laughs, but there are two major things wrong with it. The conflict is about something that none of us can relate to. The drama is all on this level of people conflicted with if they should rig the ratings or if they should not. During the drama scenes-which came mostly towards the end of this very long movie-I couldn't care. I couldn't care or relate to anyone on the scene because there was nothing for the everyman. The message is quite accurate, the jokes are mostly winners, but the drama isn't there. It tries but it just can't be. Weingartner keeps just missing the mark by a little bit-"Edukators" for a faulty start, and "Reclaim Your Brain' for a faulty end.
Directed by Hans Weingartner
141 Minutes
We've made it. The final film. Magic number 45.
I saw Hans Weingartner's last film "The Edukators"-which there is a sly reference too in the middle of this one-about two years ago. I liked most of it, but was a little upset by the first half. But once it started becoming about something, it really picked up. "Reclaim Your Brain" is a satire on reality television, and the minds of people who watch television. It starts off with a genius mock reality show "Make Your Super Baby" where a bunch of guys put their sperm in a tube, and whose ever gets to the end quicker has the best genes. This show is produced by coke addicted Rainer, but after a car accident by Anna who is convinced an action by Rainer led to the death of her grandfather, he begins to see the error of his ways. He is part of the trend that is killing the minds of America. With the help of Anna, a man named Philip, and a series of others, they plot to rig the ratings to get intelligent and smart shows on the air. Meanwhile the stations notice the change-less people are watching television-and begin to get curious.
Don't get me wrong. The film is quite entertaining. It has some moments of laughs, but there are two major things wrong with it. The conflict is about something that none of us can relate to. The drama is all on this level of people conflicted with if they should rig the ratings or if they should not. During the drama scenes-which came mostly towards the end of this very long movie-I couldn't care. I couldn't care or relate to anyone on the scene because there was nothing for the everyman. The message is quite accurate, the jokes are mostly winners, but the drama isn't there. It tries but it just can't be. Weingartner keeps just missing the mark by a little bit-"Edukators" for a faulty start, and "Reclaim Your Brain' for a faulty end.
posted by Eric at
6:03 AM
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