Bare (2015) Reviews

• The story of trying desperately to get out of small town life

  UncleLongHair22016-03-08

  I caught this on NetFlix last night. I thought it was good, a good movie that tells the story very well and with excellent acting. I had never seen any of the actors before and was pleasantly surprised. This is a character drama without much action besides the interpersonal drama which I enjoy but maybe isn't for everyone. The story will resonate with anyone who grew up in a small town and was bored and frustrated by that limited existence. Sarah Barton works at the grocery store, is bored with her job and her life, and looks around at all of the people still in the town and can't imagine growing up and living here her whole life. Her mother and boyfriend are in town but they don't do much to help her tolerate it. She wants something to happen in her life but doesn't know how to go about it. In drifts Pepper, a classic charismatic drifter with a dark side, who befriends Sarah and leads her into a sordid world of striptease, sex and drugs. I thought the interplay between the two leads was excellent and they clearly had chemistry and played their parts so well it didn't seem like acting at all. A scene near the end (no spoilers) where they both know they're lying to each other but are both pretending that they're not was played extremely well. The scenes, supporting actors, and even costumes were so perfect for rural small town America that it was possible to believe every detail of the story. The ending, while not completely "uncompromising" was satisfying and I thought both hopeful and realistic. Overall a good movie.

• Feminine vision for a beautiful rendering

  celinejars2015-11-01

  The movie don't speak about lesbian love, drugs or prostitution but about the perspective of life when you live in a middle of nowhere in America and your only future is working as a saleswoman with 3 kids. They made a documentary about this situation before the movie and it was very interesting to see it before because what they show in the movie is totally true. For a first movie, Nathalia Leite do it very well and the feminine vision do a beautiful rendering. You understand totally why Sarah can fall in love with this girl who is showing her a different life. Pepper is exotic. Maybe the vision and the movie is too feminist for some people. Dianna agron do the best acting in this movie. Maybe she needs to do an intimate production and not a big Hollywood production for acting true and Paz de la huerta was perfect for this role.

• Beware of overly cynical reviewers

  mikeownby2016-06-07

  This is not exactly a glowing review, but I do want to address something before I get down to any critique. Giving a film one star even though you think it deserves more is just a crass and cynical thing to do, and the guy who admits he did so should be ashamed of himself for doing it. There are people who absolutely loved this movie. Fans of the actors in particular, which is to be expected. I myself absolutely loved it when I first saw it at its world premiere, and even rescheduled my flight to go back and watch it again a few days later. The cinematography is brilliant, and the role that Dianna Agron plays is far removed from anything else she's done. Her character is very passive and quiet, and thus it falls on her to act as much with her body language and expressions as her spoken words. She pulls it off brilliantly. If you're like me, you may very well come away with an 8-star feeling on your first viewing. Having said that, after watching it a few more times I've started to see some of the shortcomings, though I do still think it's a good film. First of all, I think it helps to be able to relate to or imagine growing up not just in a small town, but in a town with literally nothing to offer besides mind-numbing lack of social life and completely menial nowhere jobs. If you can't put yourself in those shoes, you likely will not get a lot of the film's impact. If you've ever had a time in your life where drinking beer by the dump and then shooting at the cans was the highlight of your week, you'll definitely see where this comes from. That's not really a shortcoming, but it does limit what a lot of people can really get out of the story. As I said above, the cinematography was generally brilliant. The cameras and the way this movie was shot do a great deal to set the scenes, often as much or more than the actors. There are, however, times when this attempt at making art with the cameras actually resulted in scenes that were difficult to understand simply because they were too subtle. Too artistic rather than advancing the narrative. There are also a few times when the narrative is just plain interrupted with awkward dialogue that really could have been either done away with or done better in a perfect world. More on that below. The main actors, including Sarah's family and friends, were all brilliant with the exception (in my mind) of Paz de la Huerta. She was almost right for the role, but in the end her mannerisms just became too much; too distracting. There were a few scenes where her portrayal was almost like a record skipping in the middle of a song, and honestly she could have toned things down a bit and been better. One last issue is simply because of what the film is. An indie by a first-time director shot on a very tight budget and a very limited time frame. When you consider that, this really is an amazing end product. Having talked to the producers, I know there were scenes they wish they could have re-shot, dialogue they wish they could have smoothed out, things they wish they'd done differently. But unlike with major studio productions, you often only have one real shot at it. There's not room in the schedule to scrap a day of shooting and try it over again. There's not room in the budget to pay for the use of a location or the crew salaries to go back and do it over. You have to get it right the first time. They mostly did, and if you look at it like that this is definitely an achievement. It's a story that's overall well told and beautiful to look at. Of course it's not a brand new story nobody's ever told before, but it is overall well done and I think this one has enough going for it (and enough different about it) to be more than worth watching. Give it a try and see for yourself. It won't be some cinematic epiphany or holy experience, but you may just be glad you did.

• Nice little indie

  Lugo19892017-09-01

  Came across this one by chance and decided to give it a try. This is a nicely made coming of age story that takes place in a small dead- end town in Nevada. We have seen stories like that many times before but this one still stood out for me for its feel. The pace is just right so the film never gets dull despite the fact that it's a slowburner. The camera work is absolutely wonderful and definitely elevates certain scenes. Another thing worth mentioning is the soundtrack. If you love indie/alternative type of music (Chromatics, Part Time) you will be very pleased. The songs perfectly match the scenes. The one that especially stands out in my opinion is the desert scene with the snake, everything comes together nicely there making it almost hypnotic. The acting is solid. Dianna Agron (The Family, I Am Number Four) and Paz de la Huerta (Enter the Void, A Walk to Remember, Boardwalk Empire) work well together and it's nice to see Dianna Agron doing something different and daring from her previous roles. The stand- out performance would have to be Chris Zylka though (Kaboom, The Leftovers), an obvious scene stealer in this one. If you are a fan of indie films then I would recommend Bare. Just let yourself slowly be immersed in it and it will take you away a little for those 90 minutes.

• Just doesn't cut it.

  matahari20-12017-06-27

  I think I know what the film-makers were aiming to create here and while I enjoyed some of the cinematography, the capture of the familiar industrial urban complex highwayed out in the middle of nowhere-in-particular and a pleasantly interesting, dreamlike sequence involving sunbathing and a snake, this film fails to make real impact. I'm sorry, but Paz de la Huerta cannot act, for starters. Yes, she does have a somewhat exotic screen presence and I can appreciate why Paz was chosen for the role she plays, but the woman is just so unconvincing, passionless and dull; she merely opens her pouty lips to allow words to fall out and it's all very wooden in what appears to be a permanently coked-out zone. Diane Agron, conversely, seems to be a good actress but unfortunately Paz made her look she was overdoing it, or taking it all too seriously. For instance, I could not believe her when her character, Sarah, tells 'Pepper' (Paz), 'when I'm with you, I feel like anything is possible, anything could happen'. Really? That's pretty generous when Diane is the one who seems the far livelier and more interesting and passionate of the two! Since when does pushing drugs on vulnerable women, living in squats and being chased by angry thugs make someone edgy and exciting where 'anything could happen' as opposed to making them a real freaking headache to have around and someone who might get themselves or you killed at any given minute? There's not much of a story arc, and no tension to speak of so the film's resolution falls flat. Character development is poor thus stereotypes must suffice for a boyfriend, friend, work-place 'bitch', a bunch of strippers and a proverbial bad guy who wants his money. That's all folks.