ANIMALS

ANIMALS was such a disappointment. Ben Affleck’s latest foray back into directing, producing, writing, and starring in a feature film pushed all the wrong buttons. The problem centered on not knowing what genre of movie was being presented. Affleck obviously could not make up his mind about the type of movie he was directing. In the end, ANIMALS became a hot mess, and because Affleck confused his audiences, the payoff fell flat. Sadly, there wasn’t a shred of empathy left to make audiences give a damn.

Affleck also relied extremely heavily on drones to capture the action and the Los Angeles landscape. It felt like audiences were being pushed and shoved from one location to the next. It was exhausting.

The film had mega stars as well, including Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson, and Steven Yeun. I personally wanted the many shouting matches between Washington and Affleck to be toned down. There is a lot to be said for the adage “less is more.” Their frequent screaming over each other got on my nerves and did nothing for their characterizations. Again, I felt nothing about their terrible dilemma. Anderson was another story. I wanted to know so much more about her character’s sordid past and use of power. This was a missed opportunity. She is too fine an actress to be left in the background.

The basic theme that “power dictates leverage and leverage dictates outcome” was fascinating, but it needed more layers to be explored and revealed. It’s a shame because, yes, humans as ANIMALS can share fascinating, thrilling stories…just not this time.

ANIMALS is streaming on Netflix.