Video stores are a relic of the past, now we live in the day of age where streaming is King. I Like Movies takes place in a simpler time where to watch a film at home you would need to rent it or buy it physically. But while its setting might be stuck in the past, its storytelling and filmmaking are not in that sense. These aspects can be described as the film’s biggest praises and its biggest issues. The main character Lawrence Kweller played very well by Isaiah Lehtinen is simply a narcissist, he is selfish and couldn’t care less about other people’s feelings. This is at times the character’s biggest strength and weakness. At certain moments this toxic trait adds depth to the film making his story richer and heart breaking but then there are points where he simply is a mean person, and it feels like there is no reason for it.
This leads to scenes that I feel are hard to watch and not because they are complex but because seeing a nasty person just be nasty and get away with it is something I don’t like watching. For every good thing, there is also a negative one which even carries over into the filmmaking, where I love its use of the 4:3 aspect ratio but everything still has this modern shine to it that makes me wonder why they picked this aspect ratio. It’s the same reason why it annoyed me that a moment in the film that was shot on “16 mm” looked digital with a minor grain filter whacked on top. I Like Movies is a good time, but I wanted more from it and especially since it had the potential to be great.
