The Inspection

Uh-oh! A24!

I know that there are people who are fans of the A24 production company — it’s a whole thing — and I can respect that. I’m a fan of certain record companies, and that’s fine.

But I’ve seen like a handful of A24 movies, and I’m not impressed. They’re generally technically pretty slick (for the budget they have), but they’ve all been pretty… annoying? Like they’re chasing some social media conversation or other.

But perhaps this’ll be awesome.

Uh-oh.

Hey! I’ve been there.

Yeah, this is already pretty annoying. The “hand-held” camera (either simulated in post or done on a tripod but with a lot of operator movement) is so eurgh.

Such symbolic.

SUCH SYMBOLIC!!!

Man, OK, I’m not sure I can do this…. It’s not just All The Clichés, but it’s also All The Boredom.

Yeah, that’s bad:

Although it’s frustratingly clumsy in certain respects, The Inspection is an affecting actors’ showcase in service of some truly worthy themes.

“Worthy”.

It turns out that living rough (and possibly being on drugs?) makes you really fit! Whodathunk! The other soldiers are jelly at the hero because he’s so good at the push ups and stuff.

It’s like a Mary Sue kind of movie… the protagonist (based on the writer, apparently) constantly has people telling him he’s hot and smart and then he’s the best at the sports, too.

And then the movie gets even worse! At this point I’m kinda getting interested in this as a pure train wreck. It’s just ridiculously silly.

It’s… It’s…

And this doesn’t break with tradition.

Meme potential?

Perhaps it’s a recreation.

Oops! What a nerd.

It’s boring. It’s almost enjoyable just for the sheer stupidity of it all, but just almost.

The Inspection. Elegance Bratton. 2022. ⚀