MOVIE REVIEW: How to Talk to Girls at Parties

Based on a short story by Neil Gaiman and with a cast that features Elle Fanning, Nicole Kidman, Ruth Wilson, Matt Lucas, Joanna Scanlon, and Alex Sharp.Â A Punk rock fan back in the 70’s who along with his friends live for the music, and have their own fanzine of the Punk Scene, goes to a house party that is out of this world.Â He meets Zan and despite her people, who are here from beyond the stars, trying to come between them they develop a romantic relationship.Â Can there be any future in it?

I do like Neil Gaiman, I have to admit that, The Graveyard Book holds a special part of my soul.Â So don’t go thinking that this one out of five for this tale is a slight against him.Â I hate bashing movies but in the same breath I hate when people go see a film on my review and end up not liking the film.Â If you go see a film and I didn’t like it, but you did, that’s personal preference and what the world should be about.Â My dislike for this film goes more towards the wasted resources and the terrible production values.

First of all the story!Â Enn is a young lad who loves the Punk rock scene, he and his two friends run a fanzine for the Punk rock scene, he lives at home with his Mother as his father cleared out years ago.Â He’s the kid who finds it hard to talk to girls at parties and often spends time talking to the girl’s mother in kitchens.Â When the group of friends go to a strange house party they run into a group of intergalatic tourists that look incredibly like humans, although they don’t act that way, this is where Enn meet Zan.Â Zan is desperate to experience life on Earth and Enn is her ticket to discover what it truly means to live on this planet.Â Their romance however is seen as a betrayal by the other members of the tourist group.

How to Talk to Girls at Parties is a Black Mirror episode without the production values.Â From very dodgy camera work, to special effects that look as though they were an after thought, it’s just not a very well put together film at all.Â The best performance in the film is Enn played by Alex Sharp.Â Elle Fanning continues her doe eyed routine where she has one look and as I look back at most of her roles over the last few years I’m starting to see something in her choices, little emotional connection, and that same wide-eyed look.Â The strangest performance and this weeks winner of hand back your Oscar goes to Nicole Kidman, who stars as a Punk Rock manager/talent finder.Â It’s just an awful waste of the talent that we all know is within her.

Honestly when this film started I thought that it was Infinity War starting, which would have been far better, as the urge to walk out of this screening for non health issues was growing with every passing minute of the film.Â There was a feeling of A Clockwork Orange but without the heart and the style over substance meter got busted the minute the three lads walked into the house party.Â In the end I felt the film needed a more sure hand behind the camera and more knowledge in the production values, the student film, with a wasted great cast, feel of the whole thing just annoyed me.Â I’m going to say this now, if I never see this film again, and I’ll do all I can to avoid it, it would be too soon!

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