There were almost fist fights the other day to see the one and only screening of Pedro Almodovar’s gay cowboy movie, “A Strange Way of Life.”
Now that the short film — 30 minutes — has only negative review (of 8), Cannes and Pathe and maybe even Sony Pictures Classics has suddenly added two more screenings.
You can read my review here. “Strange Way” isn’t a bad movie. It’s beautifully made. But as Peter DeBruge of Variety also says, “The use of models instead of actors betrays what this really is: a branding exercise, both for Almodóvar and costumier Vaccarello, plus two stars eager to show their allyship.’
The fashion house of Yves Saint Laurent paid for the movie. There are indeed a lot of male models. Character in the Wild West are the best groomed cowboys in history. Even Michael Landon didn’t look this good in “Bonanza.” And sticking with 30 minutes, the film just looks like an add on to “Brokeback Mountain.” So why bother?
Now that more critics who were boxed out of the original screening get to see it, I wonder how the numbers will change for “A Strange Way of Life.” Frankly, being at Cannes is more of A Strange Way of Life than that movie. Unless you’re a cosmetic dentist sent back in time from 2023 to 1870.
