We Need To Talk About Kevin : Review

  I knew very little about this movie and haven't any commercials on TV for this movie. I happened to come across an article about it in the Entertainment magazine and the words school murder caught my eye. Now after reading it that wasn't what interested me, what interested me was that the movie wasn't just about a kid killing his schoolmates but about a mother after her child committed such a terrible crime and how she is dealing with the guilt of possibly being at fault and how the community is treating her as a mother of a killer. That is what interested me because after we see such crimes on the news or in the paper, one of the thoughts that we think is "what about the parents? How could they of not known their child was like this?". Thats what this story is about...nature vs nurture.

  I was absolutely amazed with this film. I left the theater with so many thoughts in my head and couldn't stop thinking about it. If any film should be shown in a psychology class..this one should. The story is based on so many different behaviors and how they affect anothers behaviors. Its almost scary how true this could actually be. It really is hard to watch at times because every single one of these characters really do piss you off in one way or another in this film and the actors play the parts beautifully.

  

  Tilda Swinton got alot of praise for her character as Eva, a mother trying to understand the actions for the crime her son has committed. Eva was really a depressing character. Eva is a mother that seemed to never want to be a mother at all. Even while pregnant she just looked so damn miserable. In the hospital while in labor you could hear the doctors telling her to stop resisting as if she didn't want the baby to be born at all. When Kevin was a child he wouldn't stop crying and she just couldn't handle it and seemed like she would crack at any minute. The kids they got to play Kevin were great..that toddler with his evil stare was scary and adorable all at the same time. Also it was really heartbreaking to see her descend from a successful writer to the hated women in her her town. The people in the town really did treat her horrible, including a lady walking up to her on the street and punching her in the face.

                                 

 John C Reilly played Eva's husband Franklin. This character made you so mad and yet you loved him at the same time. He made you mad because he always failed to see any wrong in Kevin and refused to listen or believe anything Eva was telling him about him. He is just a lovable father that wanted to only see the good in his little boy, which also made him seem like a blind fool. You wanted to yell at him to listen to her but he never does and this eventually forms a wedge between their relationship. 

  Ezra Miller plays Kevin as a teen...the "main" Kevin in the film. If anyone in this film that needs to be praised for their acting its Ezra Miller. He was absolutely fantastic in this film. He was so creepy and at times actually made you feel uncomfortable. Very few veterans actors can pull off this kinda of acting and this 20 year old pulled it off to perfection.  Kevin is a very sadistic kid but in some ways it seems he is doing this to get attention, any kind of attention even bad from his mother. All the bad things he does, its in front of his mother. Which makes you think had she of given him the maternal bond to begin with then perhaps he wouldn't have turned out the way he did. 

    You can point your finger at just about everyone in this film. Anyone could have been the blame. Eva could of been the blame for not nurturing him as a mother should their child. Franklin could of been the blame for always caudaling him. Or both of them for not taking him to a freakin therapist which is what he needed. The title of the movie explains it all because they need to talk about Kevin, but they never actually do. Eva either is frantic about it or Franklin just doesn't want to listen...they need to really sit down and "talk about Kevin". There was obviously something mentally wrong with him from the beginning and perhaps had he of gotten the professional help he needed the crime may have not taken place. Or Kevin just could of been a bad seed and nothing his parents did or didn't do could of changed what was going to happen.

  There wasn't a real answer as to why Kevin did what he did, but it didn't bother me. It was ok that it didn't have an explanation. I don't think there really could have been an explanation to why he did it. He didn't even know. It was just such a amazing story that will stick in your head for a long time and really make you think. Thats all I've been doing since I saw this film is think about it. To see the other side to the story..the mothers side of the story and to witness the struggles of parenthood and the fear of blame on yourself..it was just outstanding. The only thing I would have liked to of seen is Kevin's school life and how he was around his peers...for this I am ordering the novel that this film was based on with the same name because I just can't get enough of it. I am seriously shocked that it didn't get an Oscar nod. I highly recommend this film to everyone...although painful to watch at times, it is something we all need to think about. Sometimes our own actions can affect anothers actions in ways we can't even imagine. In another note...if your kid wants to  take up archery....SAY NO!!! Thanks for reading.

~JENA~
(Bastard Productions Team)