Free the Nipple (2014)

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Blistering performances.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

To be fair I turned this movie off almost at once. If you want to make a film about women's rights to be legally equal to men, and you title your film after a political movement to show breasts are not offensive, sexual or shameful you don't blur out the women's breasts. By doing so you are sending the exact opposite message. By blurring out the breasts this film is saying that they should stay covered because it might offend someone.This film is a waste of time and money. It works in direct opposition to women's rights.If you want to make a film like this you must have the courage to actually free the nipple. Otherwise, don't bother.

Anyone would think in certain parts of the world women aren't being, sold as sex slaves, beaten, raped, stoned, allowed any freedoms. DAILY. If women seriously cared about equal rights you would think they would put energy into preventing these things rather than exercising their right to bare nipples. It's sad to see women plights in modern countries incomparable to other countries where culture and religion are ruling negating human rights.Oh well women keep up the good fight.I guess your equal rights voice is watered down to nudity, when the real volume could be found elsewhere.I wonder if a woman who has had acid thrown on her would trade places with any of these oppressed and tortured women in the film?

This film is an extremely refreshing break from the tired and endless stream of recycled action flicks, and CGI cartoons. This movie actually stands for something, and isn't afraid to stick to its guns and get a little weird along the path to making its point. The underdog, guerrilla tactics storyline is inspiring, and makes one ponder their own personal abilities to start a revolutionary equality movement. I found this unique first foray into directing by Lina Esco to be incredibly entertaining, and inspiring. I thought Esco, Kirke, and Grenier give the strongest performances, carrying the conflict and message of the film, Blake Newman provides the comedic relief, and everybody else nicely fills out the rest.Overall, this is an easy 10/10 for managing all at once to be original, powerful, fun, and thought-provoking.

Now, I believe in fighting for a cause. Abolishing child poverty, I'll be right there in the trenches with you. Banning nuclear arms, I'll stand outside a government building for hours, waving placards. Freedom of speech? Need you ask? But campaigning for the right for women to go topless publicly? THIS is the basis for a feature film? SERIOUSLY?!Forget about the absolute chaos that would ensue from the thousands of pervs that would actively be pursuing them just for a picture or a quick ogle. And leave aside the concern that no-one wants to be caught between a mass of jigging body parts on the tube en route to work. Let's just focus on the fact they've made a MOTION PICTURE based on this flimsy premise alone... And treat it with the same solemnity as they would if it were about World War II.So, we get quotes from luminaries varying from Gandhi to Larry Flynt, plenty of philosophising about how America loves violence but yet is remarkably puritanical about nudity, and plenty of girls running round brassiere-free... All in a good cause, of course. This footage will be used to CHANGE THE PLANET, and won't just be jerking material for some sad little virgin in his parent's basement...I actually thought at first this was going to be a documentary... But when the cast started to try and act, I had a sinking feeling... Which unfortunately, stayed with me till the end. It might be 'Based On A True Story', but this kind of script has been rehashed, redone and recycled to such an extent it may as well form it's own genre.There's the ragtag band of misfits coming together for a common cause, they start off small but gradually get larger, then comes a minor setback which they navigate with difficulty... Followed by in-fighting, bickering... Which is also resolved eventually with a metaphorical GROUP HUG. Then, just when things are looking up... Then arrives the MAJOR crisis which threatens to end the entire movement. But not to worry... Thanks to the magic of bumper stickers, posters and endless montages, a happy conclusion is inevitable.The performances are amateurish to say the least, but I'm sure they weren't expecting any Oscars from this project. The attempts at comparing this 'struggle' to great travesties of the past is a LOT more embarrassing than walking around Times Square with your breasts hanging out. The use of the annoying theme song 'Free The Nipple' throughout is repetitive and distracting. Oh, and there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it lesbian kiss between the two main protagonists. I'm not sure why they stuck that in there, since it doesn't lead to anything and is never referenced again. Target audience, anyone? It's fantastic you believe in something, it really is. Go shout about it from the rooftops. Harangue them on the streets. Spread as much propaganda about it as you want. Just don't bother making a rather pointless, sterile film about the subject. No-one watching it is going to be converted to your way of thinking, one way or the other. Perhaps the money spent making it would have been better put towards trying to establish more nudist beaches. There, you can swing your bits to your hearts content... And not cause pile-ups or waste police time in the process. You know it makes sense. 4/10