Indignation (2016)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

After reading the novel and watching the film on four different occasions, I am constantly blown away. Missing from the film are the section headings in the novel, chief which is the first section, entitled: Morphine--and this gets your mind thinking one way, while by the end you realize what really happens. There are hints throughout the film, including the Korean War scene briefly at the beginning; the R.O.T.C.students parading in widely separated scenes; and by the so-called dream monologue after his surgery where he reveals the secret of the film. The film and book preset the finest dialogue I've ever heard in any recent films. The confrontations between Marcus and the Dean are priceless and appeal to thoughtful viewers everywhere.One nasty scene in the book had to be excised from the film, as it presents a sordid and incredulous display of sexual lust as Marcus' gay roommate masturbates all over Marcus' single room.Finally, who are the indignant characters in the film? One could say that nearly all the characters are indignant. Marcus is the master of indignation as he protest the manipulation of his actions by the Dean, who is co-master of indignation, as all his beliefs are debunked by Marcus. Olivia is driven to a nervous breakdown, partly because Marcus is forced to reject her. Marcus' mother is greatly indignant because of her husband's erratic behavior. The nurse who watches the hand job by Olivia. And so on.Finally, has anyone mentioned the profession of Marcus' father? Butcher. One who cuts and slices meat--just like the slaughtering in the Korean War. Nice touch!

(no spoilers in the following section) While the movie and characters are well constructed and an interesting story is told, it ultimately falls apart in a way the writers, directors and everyone involved should have known. Mistakes like these continue to be made and when the movies fail, those involved are somehow surprised. This movie barely broke 3 million dollars world wide. They failed to ask themselves "Who in this world goes to a movie saying 'i want to leave the theater depressed as heck'". The answer is 'Nobody'. News got around and nobody want to see this film.(spoilers follow from here, though not super specific) This movie had a path to greatness and the writers ignored it. They opted for a depressing movie, once they change gears from happy to sad, The mother blackmails the son into leaving his G/f, She gets committed and gets shock therapy and no longer seems to be... 'alive', (she lost her spark), he gets kicked out of school because the principal is a horrible person who hates atheists(violating the law in doing so) and then he dies in the Korean war because hes not in school. Its like they thought "hay how could we make this as sad as possible? how could we ruin a great movie and loving relationships?"

Social Sanction is a reality in our postmodern multicultural context. Daily people are asked to assimilate and in their best interest it would be easier for everyone if they found a way to do that without being compromised. Asking someone to assimilate should never be this brash a process and people need to be able to find their maturity without being patronized to the point of hospitalization. A comment was made in the behind the scenes script, 'a life and death scene' and the film itself expounds that wonderfully. A point presented with sophistication and clarity, enjoyed it from the first moment to the last.

I've not read the Philip Roth novel on which "Indignation" is based, but I have read other Roth novels, and I must say that watching this film pretty accurately captured the claustrophobic tone of the Roth with which I'm familiar.Logan Lerman plays a sheltered Jewish boy who experiences his first taste of a larger world when he gets a scholarship to a strict religious college. We're stuck in this kid's head for the entire film, and it's not a pleasant place to be. He's uptight, prudish, and overly-critical, holding himself and others to strict moral codes that have never been tested. He butts heads with the college dean, played by Tracy Letts, who bullies him and makes assumptions about him, but who also exposes some of his very real flaws. It's not a great film, but it is a conversation starter. It's about what happens when a young person realizes that the world doesn't necessarily always work the way he wants it to and being unable to cope with that reality. One of the things I liked best about it is how the movie upends our initial assumptions about the main character. We assume we are meant to sympathize with him and be on his side against the injustice he expects from being Jewish in a Christian school, but instead we realize that he's his own worst enemy and that the greatest threat comes from his own unbending rigidity.Grade: B+