Neadekvatnye lyudi (2010) Reviews

• A refreshing Russian gem

  sexyjm86-733-7254452013-07-08

  I've never written a review on here before, as most of the movies that I liked were already pretty well covered, and also, I am quite lazy when it comes to these things. However, after visiting the IMDb page for "Inadequate people", I was immensely irritated to see that, even though the film has a decent score (7.3 at the moment), it has only 3 reviews, of which two were clearly written by bitter people (I'd use a different word, but I don't want this review to be rejected by the site) who were either having a bad day, or just generally wouldn't know what a quality movie was, if it hit them in the face. The first thing worth noting about this movie is that the posters (I've seen two of them) do not do it justice, and neither does the trailer. Believe me, I know that modern Russian films can be quite empty and superficial, not to mention get lost in translation. If judging by the aforementioned promotional material, one would probably guess that this is just another weak attempt at comedy, with a plot along the lines of "schmuck falls for hot teen girl". Luckily, this couldn't be further away from the truth. What awaits anyone who decides to watch this nifty little low-budget movie is a sweet, somewhat unpredictable story with well-developed characters, with whom we are acquainted slowly and spontaneously, without anything being forced upon the audience, and, in my opinion, very good pacing and familiar, indie style cinematography, that I'm not used to seeing in Russian flicks. If I had to point one thing out in particular, it is the terrific acting by both leads, and the fact that their characters might be the first that I've seen in these "troubled people from different backgrounds and demographic groups find something in common" films, who are not annoying in their attempts to show how troubled they are. They get close to that at times, but they are generally very human, and show some quite endearing qualities. I'd even say that the story is constructed in a way that it sort of leads you into falling for the female lead, after initially finding her slightly irritating. If all this does sound familiar, don't worry, it was not done in a cliché way. No movie so far has made me actually sit down and write a review for it, so I hope this will be the best possible indicator to how much I liked "Inadequate people" and how emphatically I recommend them for viewing.

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• The importance of being inadequate

  entity20002011-01-25

  I happened to watch this one during the 10th annual Russian Film Week in New York back in December, and I have to say it was not a waste of time. To cut the long story short, it's a movie about a new generation Lolita and a disillusioned thirty-year-old, who leaves his small town life for some big city lights. As the plot evolves, this odd couple joins a bunch of weirdos for parties, discos and more to finally find a way - through their issues straight to each other's bleeding hearts – as they go along. You may find this movie quite moving/stirring/funny/sad/cynical at times, and as inadequate as the title suggests. I have doubts when determining the genre (what would you say to "a bleeding slice of life served cold"?), so I will put it as a movie that's worth 90 minutes of your life. Personally, I was surprised to learn that the movie was a $100,000 project of a 26 year-old Roman Karimov, who directed it and wrote both the script and the soundtrack. And, yes, it is totally recommended to those who still see modern times Russia through the lens of antiquated stereotypes

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• Not inadequate

  hte-trasme2014-05-21

  The basic form of the story of this film is nothing new -- a man finds a new girlfriend after the death of his previous one. But in execution it's done with some originality and style, and it worth the time. Earlier in the proceedings, there are a bunch of elements introduced which lead to some good, deadpan-but-exaggerated humor -- and while the film remains mostly comedy it works as comedy. Things like the extremely blunt psychologist and the protagonist's sex-obsessed boss end up being good recurring funny motifs. And for the first half the male and female lead are also played for sort of grim, depressed laughs, as it's clear they are both miserable and acting in ways that should be alienating everyone and destroying their lives. The turn for the serious a little more than half way through works, as we learn about Vitaly's past misfortune, and the film manages both to become more serious and to convince us to root for these two characters who had been introduced as such unpleasant people. Ilya Lyubimov very effectively plays a man depressed into a daze through most of the film, which if it doesn't necessarily make for dynamic scenes, does make an impact when filmed in context. Ingrid Olerinskaya does pretty well and believably starts with a wall of insouciant sarcasm that breaks down over the course of things; it's interesting that she was completely new to acting when cast. The fact that it's about a grown man falling for a seventeen-year-old provokes disapproval in the world of the film, but not the arrest that it would in certain parts of the world. But the filmmaker isn't really interested in this moral issue principally. It's a witty script and good entertainment that makes itself likable on either the more serious or comedic register.

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• Cheeky, funny, touching. A very good bittersweet comedy

  cat-that-goes-by-himself2017-10-24

  I just spent 90 pleasant minutes watching this movie. The characters are extremely likable, well fleshed out in several funny scenes, and the plot manages to go from silly and cheeky to somewhat more serious in the end without sounding contrived or heavy. It somewhat reminded me of American movies of the 80' like "The unbelievable truth" or "Bagdad café". Well above your average Russian comedy, and very well made for an ultra low budget movie.

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• Very enjoyable, wonderful acting

  suzie-632962018-11-04

  I found this film very enjoyable. All of the acting is of a very high standard. And the script is cleverly witty - some real laughs in this film.