I've been excited for this film since Gilroy's mishandled drama Roman J Israel Esq. Re-teaming with Gyllenhaal and Russo seemed to be a safe yet strong choice, and yet after having seen the film, I feel a little underwhelmed.
If you haven't seen the trailer, whatever you do, do NOT watch it before you see the film. Most of the biggest moments in the story are put on full display, and I would love to know how I would have reacted to the movie if I hadn't seen the trailer months before.
But as to the quality of the film itself, I am left underwhelmed but I still found it enjoyable. Jake Gyllenhaal is always at his strongest when he plays it weird, and his performance is delicious here. I wish we had ten times more of his Morf Vanderwalt and all of his eccentricities. The supporting cast is solid, some are better than others but overall I have no complaints there.
My real issue Velvet Buzzsaw is that it felt safe and didn't take enough chances. While I enjoyed (almost) every kill and the glib interactions between the characters, I felt that Dan Gilroy could have gone even weirder than what we got and it would have strengthened the film. Many people are complaining that it's silly and campy, but I just wanted more. We live in a post-Sorry To Bother You world now, and you've got to be more risky if you want your dark horror satire to really lift off.
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