The Lamb Movie Review

Plot

The story is about David Lamb’s life after the disintegration of his marriage and the death of his father. He goes on a path of self-discovery. He hopes to restore his faith in his redeeming qualities. On this journey, he turns to an eleven-year-old named Tommie, who is awkward and unpopular. He is convinced that he can prevent her from going down a path of loneliness and self-sabotage the way he did. He takes Tommie on a road trip from Chicago to Rookie in the wilderness. The journey changes them in unprecedented and unexpected ways for good. The film is based on a novel by Bonnie Nazdam.

Star Performance

All the performances were terrific. Oona Lawrence steals the show. She is quite easily the highlight of the film as she delivers her character with nuance and emotional depth and almost makes up for all the mistakes the film makes in terms of lacking emotion. She has a bright future in acting ahead of her that many will look forward to after watching the movie.

Analysis

Despite the film tackling a controversial subject, it is quite forgettable because it relies too much on technical aspects of filmmaking to deliver the message instead of focusing on the writing. There was a lot of potential for this film to be great, but it misses the mark because of its ambiguity. While its morality play is interesting, it is not enough to keep the audience’s interest.

What’s there?

• The film deals with a lot of issues and handles them with sensitivity.
• The story is never heavy-handed or dramatic.
•  The film is quite unsettling and disturbing, which is the intent.
•  The film is dark and is bound to stir a strong emotional reaction out of viewers.
•  The morality of the characters is dealt with in a fascinating way as it doesn’t celebrate neither condone the characters.

What’s not there?

• The film is disconcerting, which may be off-putting for some viewers
• There is lot of ambiguity in the plot, which is dangerous for a movie like this where the main character should not be portrayed sympathetically. Some viewers may feel like the character is portrayed positively.
• . The dialogues lack the emotional depth to fit a story like this and come off as lack-luster.

Verdict

Lamb is a film that is not easy to watch, but it is worth a shot for what it attempts to do for the most part.