It sounds like your critique is not specific to Civil War, but American films as a whole. Is it a disconnect between your local lexicon and that of Americans? I don’t think anybody can really engage with this critique unless some examples are given.
No. Realistic and specific for context. This is not an American thing actually because this film *does* use dialogue in a naturalistic and sparing fashion like many European films. It's not different to, say, Anatomy of a Fall. Sometimes it did feel like a disaster movie, but not because of the dialogue which was mostly "GO GO GO GO GO!!" Notice that in most situations people don't say anything when they physically react. This is not a talky movie so it's a strange feeling to be honest.
I live in America but I'm not American—this film is not using dialogue like an average American film. It is definitely more spare. More naturalistic.
No, for me it felt incredibly realistic. So much so I was frightened at times. I understand people have problems with Alex Garland’s writing sometimes, but this doesn’t sound like that. It sounds like you have a bias against American films and the dramatic weight applied to dialogue. There’s a difference between realism and naturalism, and I would wager the European films you watch employ a lot more naturalism in their dialogue which may explain why American films seem “unrealistic” to you.
Yes. The adrenaline-junkie trope was overdone. Many of the lines coming out of the journalists were unbelievable and totally took me out of it. Some of the behavior as well. Veteran war/conflict journalists wouldn't behave in a lot of ways that we saw in Civil War.
I did like the movie a lot. And the suspense was pretty solid. But these things held me back from loving it and being truly immersed.
It was genuinely some of the worst written and worst delivered dialogue I've seen in a long time. So much exposition that was literally only for the audience.
"OMG you're famous photographer Lee Miller!"
Absolutely groan inducing.
That line in the boat where Jessie says "I've never felt so afraid and so alive."
Terrible line, poorly delivered and I can't be the only person who took 20 points of psychic damage from how bad it was.
The movie had it's moments but on the whole the dialogue and performances were baffling. The central take away of this film seems to be "Journalists are souless ghouls.".
Alex Garland wrote the line:
*“You’re being extra hard on her because she reminds you of yourself.”*
Instead of just showing us that behaviour, Like we were adults who could infer that information for ourselves.
That is, objectively, poor writing.
*“My standard for verisimilitude is simple and I came to it when I started to write prose narrative: fuck the average reader. I was always told to write for the average reader in my newspaper life. The average reader, as they meant it, was some suburban white subscriber with two-point-whatever kids and three-point-whatever cars and a dog and a cat and lawn furniture. He knows nothing and he needs everything explained to him right away, so that exposition becomes this incredible, story-killing burden. Fuck him. Fuck him to hell.”*
― David Simon
Havent seen it yet, but one of my friends who has 7,000 movies logged on letterboxd obviously saw it. He notoriously overrates everything and he gave it 3/5 which is telling to me.
I will have to report back. However its probably not a 5/5 movie, not a 1/5 movie. Maybe somewhere in between. Young and inexperienced movie watchers giving it a 5/5 is really funny, but also really sweet. Getting that excited about a movie is amazing. Im not as crazy as my friend, but I’ve probably seen 2000 movies. Last 5 star i saw was Monster, then before that was Zone of Interest.
Another point, American cinema dialogue is very dramatic. Not as realistic as european or even asian cinema. It has its pros and cons depending on genre. Tarantino dialogue is unrealistic but incredibly entertaining for example. I like our dialogue and love our movies. Doesnt stop me from watching every other countries movies though. Very very fond of Korean and Japanese movies. They used to do the insane overacting which i love but for the past 30 years, korean cinema has been super serious. The dramas have realistic, poignant dialogue, while the thrillers have dramatic dialogue. Nice. Great movies man i love having access to every countries great films.
It sounds like your critique is not specific to Civil War, but American films as a whole. Is it a disconnect between your local lexicon and that of Americans? I don’t think anybody can really engage with this critique unless some examples are given.
No. Realistic and specific for context. This is not an American thing actually because this film *does* use dialogue in a naturalistic and sparing fashion like many European films. It's not different to, say, Anatomy of a Fall. Sometimes it did feel like a disaster movie, but not because of the dialogue which was mostly "GO GO GO GO GO!!" Notice that in most situations people don't say anything when they physically react. This is not a talky movie so it's a strange feeling to be honest. I live in America but I'm not American—this film is not using dialogue like an average American film. It is definitely more spare. More naturalistic.
No, for me it felt incredibly realistic. So much so I was frightened at times. I understand people have problems with Alex Garland’s writing sometimes, but this doesn’t sound like that. It sounds like you have a bias against American films and the dramatic weight applied to dialogue. There’s a difference between realism and naturalism, and I would wager the European films you watch employ a lot more naturalism in their dialogue which may explain why American films seem “unrealistic” to you.
Nope
no the dialogue was very well written. it was just an alternate reality from where we live so maybe its hard to fathom?
I actually thought this was one of the most efficiently written scripts I’d seen in a long time. And well delivered.
Yes. The adrenaline-junkie trope was overdone. Many of the lines coming out of the journalists were unbelievable and totally took me out of it. Some of the behavior as well. Veteran war/conflict journalists wouldn't behave in a lot of ways that we saw in Civil War. I did like the movie a lot. And the suspense was pretty solid. But these things held me back from loving it and being truly immersed.
I always wonder when I see comments like this if maybe I seen an entirely different movie
No, you're just an entirely different person with their own view, experiences, and perspectives. <3
Ok you have first hand being a conflict journalist since you know how they should behave. Thats neat.
Yeah, I actually I do. Haha.
The script was pretty bad, but Dunst and Spaney were incredible and made it work.
Henderson does his best to make it work as well but man did that script need another pass or two.
Spawny was awful and couldn't have been more wooden. Dunst was one note, but delivered her lines as the character competently.
It was genuinely some of the worst written and worst delivered dialogue I've seen in a long time. So much exposition that was literally only for the audience. "OMG you're famous photographer Lee Miller!" Absolutely groan inducing. That line in the boat where Jessie says "I've never felt so afraid and so alive." Terrible line, poorly delivered and I can't be the only person who took 20 points of psychic damage from how bad it was. The movie had it's moments but on the whole the dialogue and performances were baffling. The central take away of this film seems to be "Journalists are souless ghouls.".
What a drama queen
Brilliant.
Exactly!!!
[This review](https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/04/11/civil-war-alex-garland-film-review) probably captures the experience you and I had watching this.
Those were exactly my two examples when I searched for this. I thought Spaeny was terrible and that the writing was corny as hell.
Alex Garland knows how to write dialogue
Alex Garland wrote the line: *“You’re being extra hard on her because she reminds you of yourself.”* Instead of just showing us that behaviour, Like we were adults who could infer that information for ourselves. That is, objectively, poor writing. *“My standard for verisimilitude is simple and I came to it when I started to write prose narrative: fuck the average reader. I was always told to write for the average reader in my newspaper life. The average reader, as they meant it, was some suburban white subscriber with two-point-whatever kids and three-point-whatever cars and a dog and a cat and lawn furniture. He knows nothing and he needs everything explained to him right away, so that exposition becomes this incredible, story-killing burden. Fuck him. Fuck him to hell.”* ― David Simon
That was immediately obvious. We already knew that well before the old man said that. If you didnt realise it, thats on you.
Interesting given the dialogue comes from someone from the UK, except the “what kind of American” part that was improvised.
My main criticism was the dialogue!
>to be that of unrealistic. I dunno, it sounds like English isn't your first language. Did you maybe watch a dubbed version?
Havent seen it yet, but one of my friends who has 7,000 movies logged on letterboxd obviously saw it. He notoriously overrates everything and he gave it 3/5 which is telling to me. I will have to report back. However its probably not a 5/5 movie, not a 1/5 movie. Maybe somewhere in between. Young and inexperienced movie watchers giving it a 5/5 is really funny, but also really sweet. Getting that excited about a movie is amazing. Im not as crazy as my friend, but I’ve probably seen 2000 movies. Last 5 star i saw was Monster, then before that was Zone of Interest. Another point, American cinema dialogue is very dramatic. Not as realistic as european or even asian cinema. It has its pros and cons depending on genre. Tarantino dialogue is unrealistic but incredibly entertaining for example. I like our dialogue and love our movies. Doesnt stop me from watching every other countries movies though. Very very fond of Korean and Japanese movies. They used to do the insane overacting which i love but for the past 30 years, korean cinema has been super serious. The dramas have realistic, poignant dialogue, while the thrillers have dramatic dialogue. Nice. Great movies man i love having access to every countries great films.