328. Greta; movie review

GRETA
Cert 15
97 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong threat, violence, injury detail

Have Mrs W and I watched so many films that we have become anaesthetised to their effect?
We asked this question of each other as we tried to fathom why Greta had not thrilled us as much as we had expected.
We didn't think it was down to the cast - Isabelle Huppert was deliciously unhinged as the villain and Chloe Grace Moretz was perfectly destabilised as her victim.
We decided that it was because the more films we see, the easier it becomes to predict the outcomes if the director is not at the top of their game.
Here, Moretz plays Frances, a young woman who is trying to make it in New York City and is so kindly that she seeks out the owner of a handbag she finds on the subway.
The owner turns out to be Greta (Huppert) - a quirky French piano teacher who, it becomes clear, is very lonely.
Therefore, feeling sorry for her and having recently lost her own mum, Frances befriends the widow, making the biggest mistake of her life.
There was a time when a Neil Jordan film was a cinematic event and I remember gasping at the famous scene in The Crying Game.
Sadly, this film doesn't have the same shock value and settles too easily into being a formulaic thriller.
As said, Huppert does crazed lonely widow splendidly and Moretz demonstrated why she is one of Hollywood's hottest young actors but rather than being wowed over the film's surprises, Mrs W started to become irritated that the actions of both characters were not only predictable but stupid.
For example, as soon as Moretz's found out that Huppert's had ulterior motives, why didn't she just run away and leave it at that?
Greta wasn't a bad film but given the cast and director, it was disappointing. 

Reasons to watch: Isabelle Huppert and Chloe Grace Moretz are top-notch
Reasons to avoid: Creepy but doesn't thrill as much as expected

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6.5/10

Did you know? Chloe Grace Moretz's mother, Teri Duke, is a nurse practitioner and her father, McCoy Moretz, is a plastic surgeon, and heir to the Moretz hosiery business bought out in 2011 for $350 million.

Final word. Isabelle Huppert: "Neil Jordan is a great director and I've seen many of his movies, so from the beginning when I read the script I could tell that he was going to make it special with something unexpected. But I never really figured out how special it was going to be will all of this humour." WM Magazine

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