Best movie of this year hands down!

Overrated

I'll tell you why so serious

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

I appreciate independent movies that go against the conventional Hollywood grain but this movie just did not do it for me. THE GOOD: -production and cinematography are well done and the camera shots are excellent. -The acting is very good, especially from the lead character.Now for the bad- the movie felt like it was trying way too hard to be something unique and it devolved into a pretentious, nonsensical mess. I was left with too many questions and there were a lot of plot holes. I can appreciate a movie that doesn't spoon feed the viewer everything but I have to have some kind of understanding of what's happening. This movie just left me in complete limbo. Too much of it made zero sense and that really took away from the story.

Jonah works third shift at a hotel. He cleans the pool, retrieves rackets from the racquetball court, and polishes off the restaurant's dishes. He is a utility man. Jonah toils in the belly of working class employment. He has voluntarily allowed himself to be swallowed by capitalism. His days and nights have become shuffled. A wife and daughter fuel this purgatory. Marty, Jonah's wife, was the first soul to accept his junkie heart. At a church food pantry she served him then invited him into the kitchen for a kiss. Jonah's reformation began there. Marty's parents never approved, but their child, Roxy, gave the couple a hefty bargaining chip. Jonah becomes rehabilitated and pretends to fear God on Sundays. But he never needed a pew. He needed a cabin, or dreams of a cabin. A home to raise Roxy in, void of the putrid society that delivered him into the clutches of drugs, and imprisoned Marty in the legalistic jaws of religion. He crawls into another state of servitude in hopes of eventual freedom.The still, twilight hours perpetuate his daydreams. On one fateful evening, The Last Free Man walks in and preaches of the Inversion. An event that will usher in the collapse of all things restrictive. All digital identities erased. A clean slate. And few will survive, only those privy to the coming seduction. Jonah begins to reluctantly entertain the man, but quickly starts sipping his kool- aid. The seemingly endless road to his family's cabin leads Jonah into more impending delusions. Instead of being preached at, he chooses to become a prophet. He becomes Buster, a lock-picking mountain goat. He politely pillages vacation homes that he could only dream to build. He treats the vacant homeowners with respect, but finds ways to subtly rebuke.Buster and Jonah are the same man on two different paths. The former, a man who denies tragedy. The later, the man responsible for tragedy. Buster's Mal Heart is a film that makes you think twice about who you let in your life. Or maybe the film wants you to stand on trial for all your personal trespasses. Put your hand on the bible and proclaim, "I couldn't see the blood until the lights were on."

This reminded me of The Matrix. If you haven't seen The Matrix you will not have a clue what I am talking about.Three story lines, never sure which one is the real one and which is imagination or hallucination. Development of each could have been much better, but it would have made the movie a lot longer, which was probably a constraint along with the obvious low budget.Remi Malek does very well in his role, the obvious likenesses to Mr Robot show though, even though I believe he did this prior to Mr Robot.Some of the movie is slow, other parts are very entertaining, but it could have been done better so only 5.5/10 for me.

On the whole, there just wasn't enough happening in this film to keep it interesting. For the most part, the development of the story is slow on uneventful. As we plod through the aspects of Buster's life we see it unfold from two sometimes three perspectives. Most of what happens doesn't benefit the story in any way and really should have ended up on the cutting room floor.Even the premise that centres the story for our main character Buster is shaky and 'out there'. It's not explored, expanded or explained in any more depth than when it is initially encountered, so never really gains traction as a focal point for the film. Its really the story of a bum living on the edge because the pressure placed on him from trying to support a family in a difficult situation. There is plenty of meaningless symbolism, especially once you get two thirds in, that does little to shed any light on the story or provide any additional interest.I think this is yet another one of those self indulgent productions born from a good basic idea, that was under prepared, underdeveloped, and hastily assembled through lack of clarity and objectivity.One of the unfortunate developments of modern film making is that any idiot with a few bob and a HD camera can now make a film. Modern technology and the digital age has opened up the creative market such that many with little more than an ounce of self proclaimed talent can make a film. This is good in some ways as certainly those with potential have an avenue into film making that was previously open only to those with financial backing, contacts, or deep pockets. The flip side is that it opens the doors to wannabe film makers who have no business releasing half baked content. The checks and balances that kept such releases from swamping our screens have been replaced by a highway of freedom for every man and his dog to flood us with Sub par releases that aren't worth the devices they're filmed on... but I digress.The Acting is actually quite good, and the direction (I think) is also half decent. I think its maybe the producer/writer, who just hasn't really given the story enough meat to cover the bones of the production, which is a bit of a shame really because (as we so often hear) it has at least 'some' potential.That said, it isn't half bad. You could certainly do a lot worse with an hour and a half to spare.