A truly great drama movie is able to almost perfectly control your emotions. It takes your hand and guides you along a winding path of revelations and sensations. Often the most disappointing drama is one that either shows its hand too early by being too predictable or takes refuge in absurdity. Any movie viewer who has ever predicted the ending in a matter of minutes or groaned at an outlandish plot twist will know exactly what I’m talking about.
“It was a dark and stormy night…”
A drama is nothing without a strong atmosphere. The viewer has to become lost in the trials and tribulations of the main character. A strong case of atmospheric quality in a drama can be found in “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.” The mental institute is established as sterile and totalitarian early on, and this characterization of the facility remains strong throughout the film. Never once is the cinematic illusion of Jack Nicholson’s struggle with the oppressive ward broken.
Throughout the film you’re put right there next to McMurphy, unable to watch a ball game or speak out on the hypocrisy of the staff. You’re subjected to the same glaring flaws of a place pretending to help people, the same lack of compassion or understanding. This is more than can be said of another drama that strives for social commentary and validity.
“A.I.” is a sci-fi drama that’s overly long and unable to recognize its own absurdity. The film fails the atmosphere portion of our test right out of the gate. The first half of the movie showcases David, a futuristic child android that almost perfectly replicates a human. Where do the failing marks come in? The movie tries to convince viewers of an undying bond between David and his owner, a wanting mother who opens her heart to the companion droid. The only thing it achieves convincingly is the acting is mediocre at best.
The mother spends most of her dramatic scenes crying out the name David in the same alarmed tone over and over. While failing to make David’s relationship with his surrogate mother believable, the film tries to also accurately build up relationships of resentment and jealousy in his surrogate father and brother, respectively. It all falls disappointingly flat. The second half introduces us to the horrible, malicious world facing androids outside David’s home. Androids are hunted and destroyed for entertainment in a disturbing but poorly executed segment. It’s downhill from that point.
In the same vein of sci-fi robot drama as “A.I.” is “Bicentennial Man.” It too focuses on an android that tries to be human, though this time with much better results. We’re given Robin Williams as the lead instead of David’s Haley Joel Osment- and the difference is day and night. While portraying an android trying to remold himself as a human, Robin Williams manages to make the role both believable and entertaining. It’s no masterpiece in the slightest, but for a film that preceded “A.I.” and features weaker visual effects, it’s a fantastic in comparison.
The key place that “Bicentennial Man” succeeds where “A.I.” fails is in its treatment of the source concept. “A.I.” delivers a dramatic experience marred by intrusive genre shifts. The film strives to be a dark, sci-fi fairy tale with other elements juggled as well. “Bicentennial Man” manages to stay consistent as a thoughtful drama with comedy elements.
The necessity of consistency in a drama is no more apparent than in the abomination that is “Twilight.” This awful series makes every effort to pull in as many potential audiences as possibly by appearing multi-faceted. It wants to be a forbidden romance, dark fantasy, thriller, brooding drama, and even a horror series. It succeeds at none of this. The downright dreadful source material is already badly written, but it’s made even worse by pitiful acting and idiotic characterization.
With that sparkly unpleasantness behind us, consider what many regard as the greatest drama ever to escape into theaters. “The Shawshank Redemption” is a masterpiece that has to be seen and experienced by any true fan of the drama genre. This tragic tale of an innocent man locked behind bars has yet to be topped. With sympathetic yet realistic characters and an ending that genuinely shocks and uplifts viewers, it set a new bar for truly great dramatic films.
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