Welcome back for another edition of A Second Look with Jeff Stockton! In this segment I will take a "second look" at a past LRF release with a fresh set of eyes.
This time around, I will be taking a second look at The Host, written by Alex Conn and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. The film tells the story of Kenneth Simon (Timothee Chalamet) who wins a trip to meet a tech mogul played by Joaquin Phoenix, in a psychotic villainous turn.
Like the previous film, Girl/Girl, The Host was also met with mixed reviews - including from myself who gave the film a C+, but had problems with the film's lack of character development and felt it was more interested in being weird than making sense as a story. While Phoenix is definitely entertaining, he starts off so unhinged that there isn't really anywhere else for him to take the role. I have mixed feelings on Chalamet as a performer, and this boring lead role didn't help my opinion of him. Unlike Girl/Girl, which I found to be more enjoyable in my second look, the time has not been as kind to The Host. The issues the film already had just stand out to me a little more this time around (plot threads that go nowhere, Phoenix starting out too crazy, weirdness for weirdness' sake, etc.). At least there isn't a scene at McDonald's...
Original Grade: C+
New Grade: C-
The Host Link: https://sites.google.com/site/lrfimdb/the-host
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