For better or worse, Pedro Morelli’s sophomore effort “Zoom” is a film that never once compromises its vision or style. At times reminiscent of a less emotionally poignant “Stranger Than Fiction” and at others a less challenging take on “The Congress,” “Zoom” is at its best when it fully embraces its wackier sensibilities. Visually distinct with a dry and darkly comedic underbelly, “Zoom” isn’t going to impress itself onto a large crowd, but it may catch the eye of a viewer looking to watch something that is more than comfortable separating itself from the crowd.
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Three seemingly separate stories drive the inter-connective narrative. Emma (Alison Pill) works in an artificial love doll factory but spends her nights writing a comic book about Edward (Gael Garcia Bernal), a director looking to break free of his bombastic crowd pleasers with something more intimate and ambiguous. He’s currently working on a project about a model turned writer named Michelle (Mariana Ximenes), who is currently writing a story that reflects Emma’s increasingly bizarre life. Despite the three all residing in their own distinct and separate worlds, the trio are responsible for the narrative of another lead character’s life. And it’s when reality and fiction begin to blend that “Zoom” finds its most confident footing.
Edward’s portions of the film are presented through crude animation, with pinks and blues washing over each frame depending on his state of mind, and as the plot progresses, similar color schemes start popping up in Emma’s story too. Morelli does well in distinguishing the different worlds that the three live in while also managing to maintain a slight sense of uniformity so we are never wondering if we’re watching three different films at once. Michelle’s is told in bleached out landscapes with a lot of white space, the better to both give the story its sense of Hollywood glamor but also allows for it to become the most dramatized of the three, with Emma and Edward appearing more cartoonish (literally in Edwards case).
The substantial amount of visual style, however, cannot save the film from its unavoidable, major flaw: it completely drops the ball with any semblance of narrative depth. The pop art aesthetic, untrustworthy narrator and charmingly offbeat performances can muster up enough enthusiasm for a 90 minute film with nothing to say, but style alone doesn’t help much with longevity. “Zoom” certainly won’t be one audiences are thinking of a week or even a couple of hours after its credits run. It’s a hollow shell of a film that has all the makings for something fresh and innovative, but features characters who are almost entirely unremarkable.
If the film had been a touch less obsessed with surface level embellishes it might have been able to achieve something greater. A pair of opening scenes containing moments that hint at a narrative interested in skewering the male gaze, led me to believe “Zoom” was going to contain some form of commentary about the demands and exploitation of a woman’s body and how ultimately, media perception of what it means to be attractive can impress itself on the minds of the consumers. Instead, it’s a film that falls on the crutch of making big breasts the butt of a joke. “Zoom” needed a stronger script by Matthew Hensen, one that had a greater commitment to its characters rather than potential punchlines.
Pill is a versatile actress who can be hilarious (“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”) and dramatic (“The Newsroom”), and while she does what she can to imbue Emma with some offbeat and artistic energy, she’s ultimately given a role that’s as two dimensional as the ones her character creates. Bernal is one of the most effortlessly charismatic performers working today and is similarly not given much to work with, with Tyler Labine as the clear standout in a secondary role that generates most of the biggest throwaway laughs.
There is an interesting film buried in “Zoom,” and it’s one to seek out if you’re a fan of more daring visual choices in film. It’s just a shame that the script couldn’t have matched the direction and visuals in its intriguing approach to world building. [C]