A Take 2 Movie Review - Flesh Is Heir To
Heather Michelle, one of the film's bright spots.
Recently, our UK RunPee reviewer Rob Williams reviewed this movie. The movie studio complained, so we decided to give it another look.
I offered to watch it to give a counterpoint review. However, I didn't enjoy the movie any more than he did. (Note: I have not yet read his review so as not to taint my own.) In fact, this is the least enjoyable film screener I've watched so far. While Thirst was offensive, at least it was fun in an over-the-top kind of way. There is very little entertaining about Flesh Is Heir To.
Flesh Is Heir To is pretentious
Flesh is Heir To is trying to be two things at once: an avant garde film and a conventional thriller. It fails at the first and half succeeds at the second. There's an episode of South Park where Cartman says all indie films are about gay cowboys eating pudding. This is a gay cowboys eating pudding movie. It switches between black and white and color for no discernible reason. There are montages that make no sense. Even the music becomes heavy handed towards the end. The lyrics become blatant and obvious with lines like, "Men think they're better than women."
I honestly wish the director had chosen to make a documentary instead. Then their points about how many women go missing each year and how little effort is put into finding them might have actually resonated.
The quote, "If you want to send a message, call Western Union," has been attributed to both Samuel Goldwyn and Moss Hart. Either way, it is apt advice. Writer-director D. Allan Johnson wants to say something important about feminism. However the message is jumbled and unclear. The movie is less of a statement and more of a manifesto.
Although there is no bio for Johnson on IMDB or otherwise online, I assume Johnson is a man...because the movie simply can't escape the male gaze. There is plenty of nudity and several sex scenes. None of which feel erotic nor empowering. To misquote Anger from Inside Out, "Congratulations, you've ruined sex scenes!"
A female detective and her male supervisor discuss the discrepancy of what women earn by comparing athletes to prostitutes. (A conversation more at home in a Kevin Smith film than a thriller, and littered with logical fallacies.) So, of course, we have to see the female giving him a blowjob later: a scene which undermines whatever point she was making (even if the scene does appear to be the male captain's fantasy rather than real life).
Final thoughts on Flesh Is Heir To
If I haven't convinced you to stay away from this movie at this point, there is nothing else I can really say. I would flunk this movie but I did like the music and two of the actors. So instead I'll give it the next worst thing.
Grade: D-
https://runpee.com/the-dumb-movies-how-films-earn-d-grades-at-runpee/
https://runpee.com/f-movies-what-films-fail-at-runpee/
https://runpee.com/indie-movie-review-flesh-is-heir-to/
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