Modern Romance
Director: Albert Brooks
Year Released: 1981
Rating: 2.0
A 'parody' of love in modern times: crazed film editor Brooks alternatively cares for and alienates (perhaps even 'tortures') his girlfriend, who for some reason (masochism? self-loathing?) keeps coming back to the bastard for more. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a comedy or drama - considering the evilness of the Brooks character, it's hard to find much of this amusing, and his method of using long takes drains many of the scenes of their energy. While there is something to Brooks' thesis - about relationships being bi-polar disasters - there's also something cold and cynical to the execution - in other words, it needs the spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down.
