While everyone else was busy watching and debating Barbie and Oppenheimer (I have no real desire to see either one), I sat down with the wife to check out The Tutor. This film is typical of the era in which we live, where movies are rushed and released with such regularity that few of them get a good final polish and live up to their potential. And this had true potential!
The Tutor stars three individuals you may recognize but be unable to pinpoint where you’ve seen them before—the dude from Tron: Legacy (Garrett Hedlund), the kid with the bad haircut from Stranger Things (Noah Schnapp), and a former Nickelodeon star that will never reach the same heights of popularity again (Victoria Justice). The acting from these three is passable. Hedlund has a couple of moments where he seems to be overacting, but when the ending comes about you realize that might have been intentional. The movie doesn’t fail because of acting, though.
It’s the writing. In the end, anyway.
The basic premise of the movie is that a tutor for rich kids (Hedlund) is assigned to teach Schnapp’s character for a whopping $2500/day. Turns out, this kid, named Jackson, is pretty wacko. Or so we’re led to believe.
For about the first half or two-thirds of the movie, it’s actually pretty damn good. There is this constant feeling of unease and you can see things becoming progressively worse for the main character as the minutes tick by. But then, as revelations slowly come to light for the audience, we realize we really don’t like any of the characters. And that’s a problem for a thriller, when you’re supposed to be on the edge of your seat, hoping the hero doesn’t meet his or her demise.
I’ll admit, I didn’t see the twist coming near the end. But it didn’t matter. By that time, I’d checked out. I no longer gave a shit about anyone involved. And then the very end came. Jesus Christ! I’m not going to go into detail because it’s a new movie, but it’s a terrible ending that was very clearly only written to leave open the possibility of a sequel. This is not the kind of movie that needs a sequel, even if it were executed perfectly. A good thriller ends with a punch to the gut or a feeling of great relief . . . not the dog turd of an ending this one served up.
But maybe that’s just me.
PC3’s Horror and Exploitation Movie Scale of Awesomeness!
Gore - 0
Special Effects - 2
Nudity/Sexuality - 3
Wow Factor - 3
Acting - 5
Fear Factor - 6
Story/Plot/Originality - 3
Cinematography/Atmosphere - 6
Sound/Music - 5
Fun Factor - 2
A pretty sad overall PHEMSA of 35. It could have been so much better with more creative writing in the second half, without selling out to the executives that no doubt insisted there be potential for a sequel. You can catch The Tutor on Amazon Prime.