Audience Member
I came to this movie for the talented cast as I'm a fan of Jane Levy, Shameik Moore, and Juno Temple. They mostly gave strong performances but the movie itself lacks. It's dull, shot in a weird fashion, and is very pretentious.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
02/14/23
Full Review
Audience Member
WTF was James Franco thinking? Pretenders is a bizarre and enigmatic mediation on relationships and identity...or something. The story follows three bohemian artists that form a friendship in college and continue as a threesome (of some sort) for several years until they are eventually pulled apart. The performances are alright but the script is incredibly weak. And Franco's directing is perfunctory at best. A rather pointless and insipid character drama, Pretenders is unfocused and doesn't know what story it's telling.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
02/08/23
Full Review
john s
SMOKIN'
Best catch this movie before it disappears, whoops, too late. Here's what you missed. Buried somewhere In the ever expanding James Franco universe - seems this was made back in 2016 - The Pretenders, or Pretenders not only has a flippy-floppy title but a plot that does likewise.
What starts out as an interesting ode to new wave French cinema, forming a soft-focused love triangle full of fresh faced hope, aspiring arteests, and constant chain smoking, devolves into a bit of a mess. Too bad, cuz the first course is quite yummy. As aspiring filmmaker Terry (Jack Kilmer, son of Val, inheritor of stoic face and acting skill) falls for an Anna Karina lookalike in the theatre crowd whilst watching, wait for it, Anna Karina on the big screen. They meet over smokes (natch), but poor Terry needs some nudging and prodding from his Casanova photographer pal Phil to get to first base. You know where this is going, but do you?
Bed hopping ensues, feelings are viciously attacked, confusion prevails, time passes (though no one ages - natch), and just when everything seems to be coming full circle for the boffo ending, we find a red herring swimming in the soup.
Shame, cuz the lead up is quite good, and anyone fond of the French will surely be pleased with themselves pointing out the stream of referential material, but is it enough when the clumsy wrap dethrones all that throning? Probably not. Still worth it for breakout star Jane Levy as the mysterious object d'amour, and the puzzling and super short appearance by wizened Dennis Quaid as the grumpy dad, which makes absolutely no sense at all, but there it is. Bet there's several alternate endings on the upcoming DVD version.
- hipCRANK
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
03/30/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A love letter to French cinephiles from American director, James Franco's PRETENDERS is an artistic masterpiece about college roommates: filmmaker Terry, and photographer Phil both fall in love (or is it lust) with actress, Catherine, a red head. Pretenders lives up to its tagline set in New York's '80s confusing drug and aids epidemic that ultimately unravels in a twist of l'amour, des mensonges et tromperie.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/27/23
Full Review
Audience Member
my mom is pretending that she loves me
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/24/23
Full Review
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