Velvet Buzzsaw - Stuff sort of... happens

Do you ever sit down to watch a film and really, REALLY want to enjoy it?  Yet you come away just 'not getting' it in the slightest.  This was me with 'Velvet Buzzsaw.' I didn't even have go to the cinema to watch it as it's part of Netflix's output, so I could completely not get it in the comfort of my own home.

It stars one of my favourite actors, Jake Gyllenhaal, as the oddly-named, 'Morf Vandewalt,' who is an... er, yeah, that's where my mind started to wander.  I think he's some sort of bisexual art dealer, but I could have been wrong about both halves of that statement.  In short: the film just lost me very early on.  It just doesn't really have much of a - at least 'traditional' - narrative.

I know most films these days involve superheros flying round New York butting hammers with armies of computer-generated aliens, but - even though I can appreciate them - I do like films that make you think just a little more.  However, this one just made me think that it should have been so much better.

Stuff just happens.  It's got all the feel of some sort of weird, arty sketch show where one scene doesn't actually link in with whatever's gone before it, or follows it.  Although Gyllenhaal is undoubtedly the biggest name on the cast list, there are plenty of other well-known names in there, including Rene Russo, Toni Collette and relative newcomer Zawe Ashton (who always comes off as a little bit too 'smug' in my opinion).

However, none of these names could save it for me.  I just sat there with one giant question mark hovering above my head.  I guess it's hard to even nail down the genre.  I've heard some people describe it as a horror, yet there's nothing you'd really associate with the genre.  It's more of a character piece that follows people's perceptions and decent into a dark world.  Or, again, that's what I came away with.  When I can't even tell you what the film was about, I'd hardly take my word on its content.

Netflix can clearly attract big names for its original output (and the industry can only benefit from this), but this is one of their misfires.  Shame.

5/10 a hard trek, a bit like unicycling to Mordor and back