Call me disheartened
but I refuse to believe anyone in New York City would take the time
to travel to a complete stranger’s home to return a lost purse. At
least not alone. And yet that’s exactly the premise of “Greta,”
a movie in which no one really acts like a real human being.
Thankfully “Greta” devolves into a campy stalker thriller so
that’s ok in my book. It stars recent Oscar nominee Isabelle
Huppert doing her crazy worst as a woman who baits naive people with
“lost” purses around the city hoping to form a friendship and
then going all “Misery” on them. “Greta” reminds me of the
early 90s stalker dramas; your “Single White Females” your “Hand
That Rock the Cradles” and I’m all for it. It does very little to
be all that unique or different, but it’s well-paced, entertaining,
and features a wildly fun to watch Huppert who chews up and spits out
the scenery around her, sometimes even flipping tables over in
process.
Enter Chloe Grace
Moretz’ Frances McCullen who takes Greta’s bait hook line and
sinker. Frances is a nice girl from Boston. She just moved to
Manhattan where she’s living with her friend Erica (Maika Monroe)
whose father bought her an apartment for graduation. At least they
try to explain why two young twenty-somethings have a killer pad.
Frances finds a purse on the subway, tries to drop it off at the lost
and found – which has nobody working there – and takes the purse
home. She decides to be a good Samaritan and return the bag to its
owner. When she arrives to a cute little offset apartment building,
she finds an even cuter older French woman named Greta (Huppert) who
is thrilled to see her purse and offers Frances some coffee. Don’t
go in there!!
The two women are
obviously lonely people and quickly find a connection. In real life,
these people would never see each other again. But we’re watching a
crazy stalker thriller so naturally the two women exchange phone
numbers and continue to meet up and hang out. Erica who seemingly
spends all her time doing yoga in her huge apartment things Frances
is insane for hanging out with a woman she doesn’t even know. And
then one night when at Greta’s place for dinner, Frances fines a
cupboard full of the same purse she found and returned to Greta. It
freaks her out naturally and she promptly leaves without giving Greta
much of an explanation. And then soon Greta wonders why Frances
refuses to answer her texts or calls. And then it gets crazier from
there.
The film is
surprisingly directed by Neil Jordan who gave us such cinematic
classics as “The Crying Game” (a film I can’t say I’m a fan
of) and “Interview With the Vampire” (which is campy enough
itself). His last real impact in mainstream film was the Jodie Foster
starring the NYC-set “The Brave One” which followed its own worn
out vigilante storyline. Jordan also co-wrote the film (he shares
credit with Ray Wright who wrote the story) and it he has certainly
crafted a beautiful movie (it was shot by Seamus McGarvey) but
besides some tense moments it doesn’t quite offer anything new or
all that surprising. I find myself wondering what someone like Jordan
saw in this well-worn material. I think one of the biggest flaws from
my point of view is Moretz who isn’t given that much to do with
this character and comes off a tad bland. She’s lonely because
she’s recently lost her mother but she’s mostly reactive to all
the crazy stuff that Greta is doing to her. Stalking her at work,
following her friends around, and being a general nut bag. This is
Isabelle Huppert’s show and she’s insanely good. Literally. The
film’s final act isn’t very original but it’s surprisingly
satisfying.
In the end, what’s
the point of all this? It’s just a somewhat over-the-top thriller
about a crazy woman. But it’s entire existence is predicated on the
fact that Frances would even return a purse she found on the subway.
I believe that there are good people in the world. But turn you gotta
turn that stuff into the police. Otherwise you might end up starring
in a crazy bitch thriller. GRADE: B
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