Read Mixed User Reviews for Greta

6

FelicityFenwickMar 2, 2019

I came in with super low expectations and actually found it pretty fun. But not funny in the way that many critics suggest. I've seen this sort of movie done better many times before.

2 of 13 users found this helpful211

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5

Live2RiseMar 5, 2019

Basically what this all adds up to is maybe I had a reason not to take the bait to see “Greta”. Even with Chloë Grace Moretz and Isabelle Huppert in the main roles, the film is enjoyable at best with some suspenseful moments and build upBasically what this all adds up to is maybe I had a reason not to take the bait to see “Greta”. Even with Chloë Grace Moretz and Isabelle Huppert in the main roles, the film is enjoyable at best with some suspenseful moments and build up tension and criminally underwhelming at worst as the real issue here lies in the predictable story, the fault in decision making for the characters and the slow burning build up not going anywhere once we get to the ending. The film, to me, is not relatively boring but if Moretz and Huppert weren’t here in, it probably would’ve been a different story. To be fair, it is one of Chloë’s better movies on her resume but that’s not really saying much. Like every other film, this one had potential via its director and screenwriter but magic doesn’t always formulate to the silver screen......and this is just one of those instances where the initial set-up is just lacking in subtlety to the point that this movie might as well be a satire.… Expand

1 of 10 users found this helpful19

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6

PhilipBlakeSep 2, 2019

Just looks like a modern ripp off from Stephen King's Misery. But is still enjoyable even if the tense and "horror" are way softer. The performance from Chloe Grace Moretz and Isabelle Hupert are the strong part of the film and probably saveJust looks like a modern ripp off from Stephen King's Misery. But is still enjoyable even if the tense and "horror" are way softer. The performance from Chloe Grace Moretz and Isabelle Hupert are the strong part of the film and probably save the lack of innovation in the screenplay and direction. But of course Hupert isn't Kathy Bates and doesn't scare the sh*t out of you as Annie Wilkes was able to do.… Expand

1 of 12 users found this helpful111

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6

GreatMartinMar 5, 2019

Greta, in the studio synopsis, is described as an 'eccentric French piano player' and Isabelle Huppert playing her could have taught Baby Jane Bette Davis a few things in playing/being crazy. This is a female dominated film with, more orGreta, in the studio synopsis, is described as an 'eccentric French piano player' and Isabelle Huppert playing her could have taught Baby Jane Bette Davis a few things in playing/being crazy. This is a female dominated film with, more or less, cameos by Stephen Rhea as a private detective andan estranged dad played by Colm Feore. His daughter, Francis, played by Chloe Grace Moretz, rooms with Erica, played by Maika Monroe, her best friend who has a spacious brick apartment bought by her father in New York City. Francis finds Greta's purse on a subway and returns it to her and to say anything more would spoil the craziness, that makes no sense but is a lot of fun to watch and all will be forgotten by the time you leave the theatre. Well, not all, because watching Isabelle Huppert flipping a table, no spoiler as it is in the preview as is something she does with music that you will laugh at with guilt feelings, maybe!

Neil Jordon, a favorite director of mine since "The Crying Game", adds his very odd take on people of all kinds and he has willing accomplices with his actresses, especially, again, with Isabelle Huppert. His direction, and her acting, certainly aren't Oscar winners let alone contenders, but they are certainly entertaining.

There are many holes in the screenplay written by Jordon and Ray Wright and many scenes you will laugh at which I don't think was intended. Plus if you want violence and jump out of your seat surprises you may or may not find them here depending on your ability to suspend belief at the movies.

Did I like "Greta"? Do I recommend "Greta"? Yes and no--how's that for being definite? Or is it a 'red herring' you might find in the movie?… Expand

2 of 30 users found this helpful228

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5

Brent_MarchantMar 2, 2019

Is it a psychological thriller? A campy romp? Well, that's what the film itself is unable to decide. While it does each of those things well, it doesn't mesh them together at all effectively, abruptly switching gears from the former into theIs it a psychological thriller? A campy romp? Well, that's what the film itself is unable to decide. While it does each of those things well, it doesn't mesh them together at all effectively, abruptly switching gears from the former into the latter in the final act. Had director Neil Jordan decided which of these approaches he wanted to use, he would have had a much better picture on his hands. Alas, though, we have a film that's almost as schizophrenic as one of its two principals. Despite these issues, one can't help but commend Isabelle Huppert for her moxie in being willing to yet again take on a part where she's willing to do anything and do it well. It's too bad, though, that she didn't have a better vehicle here to show off what she can really do.… Expand

1 of 33 users found this helpful132

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6

GinaKMar 6, 2019

The cast was first rate, so why wasn’t this movie better? Chloe Grace Moretz was likable and interesting to watch, and you cared about her. Isabelle Huppert was menacing enough to make you wonder what would happen next. So what was missing?The cast was first rate, so why wasn’t this movie better? Chloe Grace Moretz was likable and interesting to watch, and you cared about her. Isabelle Huppert was menacing enough to make you wonder what would happen next. So what was missing? Style and panache in the direction, tighter editing, and better pacing. I blame Director Neil Jordan. A movie with such a good cast and a decent script should not have felt like it lasted more than two and a half hours when it was only 98 very long minutes.… Expand

0 of 10 users found this helpful010

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5

CLUELESS35861Aug 19, 2019

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I am a fan of Neil Jordan's direction/writing. Greta I find lacking, either it is a commentary on the complete ignorance and incompetence of millennial's in general,or, it is weak on horror. It starts out as a competent homage to Hitchcock style suspense, believable and well paced. But, when "Frances" decides a face to face to tell Greta a lie; it falls apart fast. And, "Frances" has flight or fight reflexes that make no sense at all given her earlier realization that Greta is unhinged in a big way. I mean, really, she finally takes a rolling pin to the old broad, but, does not hold on to it; and, maybe, break out the glass on the front door, grab a loose chair and hop out, screaming for help? Of course the movie would have only been 70 minutes long, but, they could have had a trial! And, if you are going to put Greta in the toy box, at least close the door, and push the piano back!… Expand

0 of 6 users found this helpful06

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4

TrevorsViewMar 8, 2019

Self-care marks the first step to saving other people, and there are many ways to better yourself. For instance, you can avoid ultra-processed foods, along with that 10% increased cancer risk. Or, maybe you can only watch movies that actuallySelf-care marks the first step to saving other people, and there are many ways to better yourself. For instance, you can avoid ultra-processed foods, along with that 10% increased cancer risk. Or, maybe you can only watch movies that actually have a reason to exist, those that convey the situation of self-care to generate outer-concern, something that the latest horror-suspense, Greta, fails to achieve.

Nobody gullible enough to buy a ticket to this feature should do so, otherwise, they would have to fight drifting asleep before the predictable climax. The Z’s are bound to happen as the events leading up to the climax rely on one cheap way to suck thrills out after another, including an out-of-place scene when an elevator keeps going down, down, down, and closes in on the passenger. That trippy scene matches a comparable level of goofiness to when the main actress, Chloë Grace Moretz, throws her phone as she shouts, “goddammit,” as if a supporting actor from history’s worst movies. When clumped together, these pathetic moments force the suspense away.

It’s sad that our world now has to associate itself with these characters’ idiocy, because the protagonist, Frankie, does the opposite of what one carrying common sense would do. She does not deserve to be cheered on, or anyone else in the passive ensemble for that matter! That goes as well to Frankie’s stalker, Greta, who is stupidly overpowered without reason as to why, while her actress, Isabelle Huppert, doesn’t shy away from knowing her doomful career ahead.

Though the projection of our happiness generated by a piano is somewhat successful. That instrument sits in Greta’s lonely house as her only true company, not to mention the only sign of sanity as it sets a contrast apart from the millennials she seems to take obsessive delight in. The sound design around this music of eighty-eight keys works off your greatest fear as it’s set against the unhuman tick sounds of a tense metronome. In the few scenes that little tool tick-tick-ticks, the circumstances allow you to now forever associate that noise to a tell-tale heart.

These elements do at least address what our true fears are, even when zero confrontational advice comes out of it. Upon their first meeting, Greta leaves Frankie many calls, perhaps around eighty in a single day, all containing terms of endearment that when said the umpteenth time escalate your nerves: Chérie, Sweetheart, and Darling. Yet Greta’s actions turn quickly more ominous, including an outburst among restaurant patrons after spitting gum into Frankie’s hair.

The film gradually gets more and more discomforting as it goes along, which works well enough considering that the first act sprinkles around joyful doses of familiar imagery. Inside a cathedral, soft candle glows suggest the wisdom that Greta seeks from youth, considering that she barely even knows how to use an old Nokia phone—or so believed. Away from the stalking chaos, Frankie circles on a bike around her roommate, who does yoga in the center of their apartment. This circular imagery enables you to relax before they’re both put in harm’s way.

Unfortunately, all these intense emotional moments do nothing to progress your well-being beyond the mundaneness of life. Even the characters in this movie don’t seem motivated to ever change. Heck, it’s addressed quite frequently that Frankie lost her mom a year prior… so what? Why care? It doesn’t say! It’s hard to care about the antagonist as well, seeing how the writer/director Neil Jordan ignored giving Greta a chance for redemption, suggesting she falls short of displaying any good, making her much less realistic than a vampire.

There’s the argument that bad people must be seen as bad and punished for doing so in a story; but before you draw a black/white conclusion about whether or not someone deserves forgiveness, just think: in someone else’s mind, you are the villain of his/her story. Does it press an “evil” label on you too? Does it mean you deserve no redemption? In that same way, the best movie antagonists are human, with both good and bad traits about them. Would Hannibal Lecter still be regarded as one of the greatest on-screen baddies of all time if he wasn’t unusually polite? Don’t expect any characters controlled by this horrendous script to do anything besides push the plot forward. That goes to the roommate, and that goes to Isabelle Huppert’s awful accent that offends her own race.

In fact, this big crapload simply should never have been made, as it lacks any motivation, not for art, not for money, not for anything. Detestable trials will always come your way with the intent of helping you change for the better, but Greta instead prefers to hold back on challenging you.… Expand

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5

JLuis_001Jun 4, 2019

Basic suspense disguised as something more substantial.
Don't get confused, Isabelle Huppert can hardly give more strength to the story while from Moretz I'm not expecting anything anymore. Honestly.
Disappointing, not mediocre but ratherBasic suspense disguised as something more substantial.
Don't get confused, Isabelle Huppert can hardly give more strength to the story while from Moretz I'm not expecting anything anymore. Honestly.

Disappointing, not mediocre but rather disappointing.… Expand

0 of 6 users found this helpful06

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6

Bertaut1May 4, 2019

Insubstantial and forgettable, but Huppert makes it moderately entertaining

Written by Ray Wright and Neil Jordan, and directed by Jordan, Greta is a schlocky B-movie through-and-through, with a completely ridiculous plot and over-the-topInsubstantial and forgettable, but Huppert makes it moderately entertaining

Written by Ray Wright and Neil Jordan, and directed by Jordan, Greta is a schlocky B-movie through-and-through, with a completely ridiculous plot and over-the-top final act, all infused with a ludicrous generic campiness. It's one of those films that's so utterly horrendous in almost every way, it's actually kind of enjoyable. Very much in the tradition of stalker-thrillers such as Body Double, Fatal Attraction, and Single White Female, although nowhere near as good as any of them, there's precious little of anything going on in the film, as Jordan seems to have nothing to say. It is, however, good for a few laughs (not all of which are intentional).

Frances McCullen (Chloë Grace Moretz), a young Bostonian, is sharing an apartment in New York with her college friend Erica Penn (Maika Monroe). Having recently lost her mother to cancer, she is all-but-estranged from her workaholic father Chris (Colm Feore). When he finds a handbag on the subway, she returns it to the owner, Greta Hideg (Isabelle Huppert), who explains her husband died some time ago, and her daughter is living in Paris. The two strike up a friendship, with each filling an emotional void in the other's life. However, when Frances makes a discovery which changes the nature of their relationship, she tries to cut ties with Greta, who has no intentions of allowing Frances to walk out of her life.

Neil Jordan's eighteenth film, Greta is a B-movie before it is anything else. And although Jordan doesn't seem to be in on the joke, taking the material relatively seriously, Huppert is clearly having an absolute blast with the part - whether it's literally dancing across the set as she commits homicide, spitting chewing-gum into Frances's hair, gleefully engaging in some DIY emergency medicine, or overturning a table as if her life depended on it. She practically winks at the camera a couple of times.

Thematically, the film flirts with a few issues, but never really penetrates any of them. One could read it as a satire of NYPD inefficiency, the ineffectiveness of the justice system, and the misnomer that in a post #MeToo society, it's easier for women to report instances of stalking and harassment and be believed. However, none of these themes are explored in any significant way.

From an aesthetic point of view, the film looks great. Anna Rackard's production design contrasts the dark brown classical feel of the interior of Greta's house with the bright, grey, modernist look of the girls' sleek apartment. There's a really well-mounted scene where Greta is following Erica, and neither Erica nor the audience ever actually sees Greta, but we know she's there, because she keeps sending Frances picture messages of her pursuit. Nick Emerson's editing is especially impressive here, cutting rhythmically between Erica, Frances, and inserts of the picture messages. It's a very unsettling scene, and a unique way to stage a chase.

On the other hand, the aesthetic lets the film down in terms of location. Although set in New York, it was shot primarily in Dublin, and it shows; from the sequence of the traffic lights to the side of the road on which the cars drive to the street signs. It's very distracting, and really wouldn't have required that much effort to fix.

And there are a myriad of other problems. For starters, there's the script, wherein none of the characters are given much in the way of interiority or psychological verisimilitude. There's little emotional complexity anywhere in the film, no real sense of any of the characters having an unconscious. Frances comes across like a cog in the screenwriters' machinery, only behaving in such and such a way because the plot dictates it, with scene after perfunctory scene doing only enough to get us to the next scene and nothing else. Neither Moretz nor Monroe are able to escape the generic moulds of their character-types; the bright-eyed and innocent newbie whose kindness will be her downfall, and the tough friend who seems churlish and cynical but who ultimately proves to have been right all along.

Greta is a rote stalker-thriller that looks great, but offers nothing we haven't seen before; it's essentially a potboiler in a nice suit. No different from any of the late 80s/early 90s obsession thrillers, it's hard to figure out what Jordan was aiming for with this. You can't call it a psychological thriller about obsession and loneliness, because it does nothing with these themes, but you can't call it a self-aware B-movie, because Jordan doesn't seem to be fully cognisant that it's campy schlock. Huppert's performance elevates the material significantly, but even she can't paper over all the cracks. It's been 23 years since Jordan has made anything significant, and on the evidence of his last few films, it's going to be a while before he does so again.… Expand

0 of 34 users found this helpful034

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6

bataguilaJul 8, 2019

Palomera. Pero la historia es floja, predecible, y el final es interesante.

0 of 14 users found this helpful014

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5

DlrlmJul 19, 2019

Not too sure what to make of this. Can anyone be that naive? I was kinda bored.

0 of 6 users found this helpful06

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