Film students or "students of film" might be able to appreciate this movie but the majority I believe, would find it painfully boring to sit through. "Pin Boy" offers extremely limited appeal and will likely never see the light of day again, certainly, not in a commercial sense. Wouldn't hold my breath for the DVD release, either. Look, I've been attending the San Francisco International Film Festival for over a decade and check out anywhere from six to twelve films each year during its run. I'm not a film freak that takes in 150 movies in two weeks. I also know never to read the program before you see the movie because it usually reveals 80% of the plot. I only read the capsule synopsis which stated about Pin Boy: "In this poetically melancholy film, provincial Adrián gets a job setting up pins at the last manual bowling alley in Buenos Aires. Idiosyncratic coworkers fill his youthful mind with stories, philosophies and a world well beyond their cramped microcosm." It sounded quaint and interesting, so I took the bait, and the description turned out to be accurate. Also let it be known that I don't hold "action" as a prerequisite for viewing a film, but I do expect a tale of sorts. "Pin Boy" had enough story for a 10-minute short, not a full length feature.
With the exception of the aforementioned rooftop scene, I don't recall even one other exterior shot! If you're not going to serve up a visual feast, you'd better be saying something, not reading inconsequential letters from home, looking at childish sketches and listening to some 50-something pontificate on the meaning of life. Who on earth would give much credence to this guy's opinions? He's been stuck working for two decades as a pin setter in a bowling alley, for gosh sakes! The film was simply unwatchable.
I would have gotten more entertainment value from watching my dog lick his own balls for two hours. This was undoubtedly, one of the most boring films I have ever seen. Should have recognized the signals early as the opening scene features nothing more than a naked man sitting in a waiting room. The camera stays on this "event" for what seemed like five minutes. The filmmakers had their hearts in the right place but nothing really ever transpires in this film. We suffer through a veritable plethora of dime store psychology dispensed from a 20-year veteran pin boy and by the end, I was hoping that an errant bowling bowl would just hit him in the head to shut him up. Now, THAT would have made a great scene! I stayed to the end so I could be honest with the faithful readers of IMDb, but this was a complete waste of my time and hopefully, you will not make the same mistake of screening this sleep-inducer True story: while exiting the theater, I noticed a woman walking out with a cup from Starbucks. I quipped, "that must have come in handy"! She replied, "No, actually, it didn't. It is calming tea and I fell asleep three times"!
Dull and boring is simply NOT what "good cinema" is about.
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