"Funny Games"

This movie is going to make a lot of people who see it very angry.  It's being sold as a thriller, but it really isn't.  It's a treatise on violence and sadism as "entertainment" and it hates the very audience the advertising seeks to entice.

I never saw the original Austrian film that came out ten years ago, but considering that our American version is written and directed in virtual shot-by-shot replication by the original writer and director, and features two of the best English-speaking actors on the planet (Naomi Watts and Tim Roth), I think this is probably the most legitimate Americanization of a European feature ever.

What may startle the average viewer looking for some violent titillation is that the character played by Michael Pitt is completely aware that he is in a movie, that he is being watched by an audience, and that he is performing for their amusement.  This film presents you with sickening, cold-blooded acts (which happen, for the most part, off-screen) and then dares you to be offended by them, because, after all, this is what you paid for, right?  This is the entertainment you crave.  The last image in the movie (UMM, SPOILER, I GUESS) is of Pitt, preparing to murder another privileged white family, staring directly, judgementally into the camera, as if to say, "Look what you make me do to these people, you sick fucks."

The performances across the board are terrific, especially Watts, who is so fearless and honest that she would deserve an award if movies like this got awards, which they don't.  Michael Pitt also impresses with the perfect blend of charm and evil, officially joining the pantheon of Actors Kevin Will Pay Attention To (as well as Guys Kevin Would Do, but that's neither here nor there).

This is an intense, unforgiving, queasy, disturbing film that's probably going to piss off a lot of American filmgoers when it opens wider.  Did I like it?  I'm leaning yesward, but I don't know if it will hold up to repeat viewings or not.  Recommended, but only if you're up to having your face shoved in your own filth for the duration.