Pawno

制片要我看完片子，给个中肯的评价，接下来准备接导演的新片。 这是我今晚半夜看完片给他的邮件原文。

Overall, If I am to write the story, What I will do is to tell these stories in separate storylines first, then link all of them to the pawnshop, then strike for the climax, Then end it in a climax with Danny and Kate holding hands and walk away. The whole story and pacing are good for a TV series but too slow for a movie. The build-up is too long which leaves too little room for plot development. Feels like a sculptor working on carving the perfect face but when stepping back a few, there is nothing to see but the face itself. There are a lot of characters, as well as storylines, but I feel it should have a core for all these stories. In that sense, The pawnshop should have a more important role play because of everything links in there. It should really change characters in good or bad ways, and that would make sense to me. And Les, as an owner of the place, his character is well established, but his motivation is not as clear. Overall, I feel this story has a good potential but did not end well mainly because of the pacing. I was hooked but felt being fooled at the end. Story-wise, 3/5.

Humour, I think is well written. I was amused by all the little details. Especially the bit the Vietnamese girl Lai walked in with an accent, and her “private talk” with Les and Les’s dance move after that was very entertaining to watch. Dialogue is great, Very Aussie and very smooth. 5/5 for me.

Production design, the wardrobe and sets are certainly not the best but it feels right and certainly very Aussie to my eyes. 4.5/5

Cinematography, I can really appreciate this movie because of the picture. Love the warmth in the highlights, really fits the story well. 5/5

Music, love all of the OSTs. the 2 songs at the beginning of the show are the best. The little girl playing ukulele made me crack. Although it doesn’t really make sense why is she there(She doesn’t help the story). Same goes for all the street performers. It’s cool to have them, but it would be much better if they could support the storyline instead just in the background. Also, in some scenes, the music is too dominant, which distracts me from the story a little. for instance, Kate walks into the pawnshop and meets Danny for the first time. 4/5

Cast:

I don’t know any of these characters, so I can be totally objective here.

Les- Love Les, great actor. Details are spot on. 5/5

Danny- Great details, his acting is subtle but perfect for his role, although, I feel this character could be a little younger. 4.5/5

Kate- some reactions are about 1 or 2 secs later, maybe she is trying to remember her line or that’s her style. 3.5/5

Lai- Love every second of her acting. 5/5

Pauly- Some actors are just natural, him, I can see him pretending to be stupid. 2/5

Harry- Great Actor. His story is the fullest. There are not many changes in his role, but he did his job well. 4.5/5

Jennifer - I don’t really understand the purpose of this character. When she walked in, I thought this story will lead to a murder case. And when the angry dude walks in the shop, I thought he is the killer. But it ends up just separate storylines. Acting-wise, 4/5, Story-wise, doesn’t make sense to me.