| Barry Levinson is suffering from Aging American Filmmaker Syndrome (AAFS), a condition in which a director’s comfort behind the lens causes dull filmmaking. Symptoms include weak scripts, loose blocking and a trademark use of aimless zooms (first pioneered by director Robert Altman, these have since been abused by him and others who prefer to let a film "come together" rather than direct it).
Levinson’s latest, Bandits, offers many of the trademark symptoms of AAFS. This condition rises out of the artist’s fear that he or she is no longer vital in the fast-paced world of Hollywood. Their desire to have product on the market overrides the need for that product to be good. Placated by massive budgets, they no longer use the extra money to their advantage but pad the film with big-name stars to ensure box office success. Once box office revenues drop below acceptable levels (see Brian De Palma) they are forced to come to grips with this tragic illness or retire.
One can only rest on past successes so long before AAFS takes hold. Like most maladies it is curable, but the AAFS sufferer relies on the help of viewers like you. Don’t support the delusion – don’t see their movies. |
