Station to Station (2021)

Station to Station (2021). 2h 8m | Unrated

“I am not sure what I expected going into the movie (I was asked to be a test audience member two months ago) but it wasnu0026#39;t what I thought, in all really good ways. Itu0026#39;s really hard to describe this movie without either giving too much away or giving people the wrong impression, so I think Iu0026#39;ll just say itu0026#39;s a really well-done drama about a young man who has a lot of growing up to do, and a bit of a chip on his shoulder, who runs to Las Vegas rather than face his issues at home, only to find and create new issues there.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film kind of follows him for 6-9 months as he interacts with friends/lovers/colleagues/family, and while he learn a lot about them, the audience learns a lot about him (and wonders if heu0026#39;s actually learning, too). In that way, the film is a lot like Richard Linklateru0026#39;s Beyond trilogy, and I think some reviewers have said that. But I think the other comparison they make, to Paul Thomas Anderson, is better.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMostly because of the way the film makes all the psychological drama really watchable instead of depressing or boring. The two hours mostly flies by and it does a neat trick because by the end, you realize you had no idea where the movie was going, pretty much at any time, let alone somewhere so powerfully dramatic. I think that made it really satisfying to me. I am glad I didnu0026#39;t assume the end in the first half because the setup was for something else.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI think there will be lots of comparisons to Boogie Nights, but I think thatu0026#39;s mostly due to surface similarities. Boogie Nights was bigger, more salcious for show, and wrapped up in a really predictable and old-fashioned way. This does a bunch of stuff I wasnu0026#39;t expecting and treats its characters as unique, not tropes and thatu0026#39;s a movie lovers dream, in a way.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn a different review, for a different film, I said you could just watch the acting only and still be ertained, because all the leads were so good. That is 100% true here. The casting on this film, especially for all the main characters or the ones with big moments is incredible. I wouldnu0026#39;t be surprised if any of these new faces break out, but I hope if they do, they donu0026#39;t lose the raw parts of their performances in this film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI donu0026#39;t usually give 10s, so I gave the film a 9, mostly because itu0026#39;s amazing they made this to this level of quality, on both a limited budget and during the pandemic. Without those challenges, itu0026#39;s obvious this would have been a 10, and thatu0026#39;s a pretty big compliment from me. But maybe the more useful compliment is that I spent money to buy a ticket to see it again at a festival tonight when I already got to see it for free!”