you take a risk to honor the dead.

fakemoonlanding

While very often visually stunning, the film is built upon an underlying storyline. Downey's character works as a living symbolism for her struggle to become the photographer we, and the filmmakers, hold in such reverence. Downey's performance was spot on brilliant, but Kidman's ability to complement his was lacking and wispy. And while visually stunning is a nice thing to say of a film, it is undeniable that the musical score was atrocious. Ill timed, overproduced, and overbearing, piano and semi symphonic pieces pulled the audience into the scene to follow as appropriately as a child screaming, gripping onto his mother's arm. Editing was also sometimes a bit off, nothing to gasp at however. Some of the shots needed thoughtful reconsideration, lending unintentional moods to scenes they do not belong in. Overall, the film attempted to build its own success off the life of a brilliant photographer, and in doing so (at least in my own opinion) did a disservice to her brilliance. The bottom line is that you would be better off reading the biography the book was based off or best yet taking a serious look at her photography and trying to understand the depth of her struggle to become a photographer who holds in highest esteem the very things society turns a cheek to. The filmmakers took a risk to give fictional tribute to Arbus, and it is sad that their attempts went so awry. You take a risk when you choose to honor the dead with your artistic representation of their life, especially on the silver screen. Being that Arbus is so loved in the hearts of so many that never were able to meet her, stakes were remarkably high and failure would follow only a falter. Unfortunately for Fur, it faltered on more than one occasion to an extent that left this viewer feeling personally betrayed for the film's subject, brokenhearted for my own inability fix things broken. For someone who was able to produce photography as well as Diane Arbus, this movie should have been perfect. The fact that it failed to be perfect is reason enough for me to say it failed utterly.

score 2/10

fakemoonlanding 14 November 2006

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1521322/