Intentions

For what it’s worth, I’m not mad at Intentions. If anything, I had zero emotional response to it. This is a very negative review, for sure. But Intentions isn’t bad in a way that pissed me off. Films piss me off when they’re offensive or feel like they’re not trying. Intentions isn’t offensive and I think everyone was trying their hardest. Tragically, all this trying just didn’t lead to any success.

Intentions is listed on IMDb as a coming of age movie. But both characters or at least, actors seem far outside the age range that genre usually covers. Renee is a college professor and theatre director. She has a stable life with a husband and children. Eve is a student and aspiring actress. But Eve’s girlfriend, Erin doesn’t much like her aspirations for acting. Renee casts Eve as the lead in her new play. And guess what? Lesbianism happens between the two. This new relationship obviously has impact on both women’s lives. Especially Renee. Not only does Renee have a husband, but she’s a teacher engaging in a relationship with a student. And those things are frowned upon even without the added element of homosexuality.

I usually try and find positives about bad films. But I simply can’t do that with Intentions. There’s just nothing here to recommend. The story is standard and extremely boring. Truly the most memorable thing about it is how forgettable it is. The acting does nothing to elevate the material. Actors show up and know their lines. That’s the best I can really offer. On a technical level it’s also poor. The sound isn’t great. Music is often louder than the dialogue and the dialogue is frequently muffled. I had to work too hard to make out what characters were saying. And I wasn’t rewarded for my effort because the dialogue is deeply bland. The visuals also aren’t great. This is an early 2000s indie film. So, the quality just isn’t there. No notable cinematography and quite a lot of handheld camera. All in all, nothing I can praise.

I’ve found over 1000 WLW films so far. So, there’s obviously going to be story overlap between them. In general, I think there’s room for all WLW stories as well as room for similar stories to repeat. All this being said, Intentions is very similar to Lianna. And that’s unfortunate because Lianna is a masterpiece. That film was both interesting and subtle. It had such nuance to its characters. Intentions offers none of this. It’s Lianna’s plot points without the depth or the polish. Even if you’ve already seen Lianna, you’ll still get more out of seeing it again than watching Intentions. Lianna made me feel like I was a better person after I watched it. After finishing Intentions, I felt like the same person except potentially worse as I was 90 minutes older without anything to show for it.

To sum up, there’s just nothing in Intentions to recommend or seek out. This is a forgettable film without any standout aspects. I don’t want to be so unkind as again, it didn’t piss me off or anything. But there’s just nothing here. Even films I liked less, including offensive ones have more to offer than Intentions in a way. Those ones at least have a strong enough point of view that I can take offence to. Intentions offers nothing.

Overall rating: 2.5/10

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