You’re not going to enjoy or admire every film you see. If you “know” the film realm and have any taste and if you’re honest, you’ll be obliged to go thumbs-down on roughly 70% of the films you see, if not closer to 80%. (I’ve always felt that Sturgeon’s Law is too severe.) But sometimes it’s the better part of wisdom to just do a little Charles Durning sidestep. Sometimes you need to back off and go easy. I don’t mean “lie by saying a bad film is good”, but selecting this or that portion of a film that works and praising it for that. But without indicating that you’re, you know, dodging. Not easy but achievable; an art to it. I’m talking about a kind of creative diplomacy that involves careful brushstrokes. Any critic who says he/she doesn’t know what I’m talking about is a liar. I trust I’ve made myself clear.
