Curious, indeed, Mar 22 2004

The idea is intriguing- a real life monster, the only of his kind, who swills wine, kills humans, speaks English- yet lives in obscurity off the chilly coast of Iceland- meets a young, naive yet strangely wise, girl named Beatrice who has set off to find her fiance- reportedly eaten/attacked by the monster. During her journey she meets with pain & sacrifice which puts her at an advantage with the monster.

Hartley's satire turns them into media darlings for their '15 minutes,' until they find the only doctor who can kill the monster. The final scenes of the movie are rushed & confused & the ending is dissappointing at best.

I still recommend it for those looking for new approaches to storytelling & film- just be prepared for an ending that leaves you to make your own conclusions.

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not the best Hartley movie to start with, Feb 16 2004

This is a Hal Hartley film though, and it doesn't get judged by any normal standard. Fact is, after 'Unbelievable Truth', 'Trust', 'Simple Men', 'Amateur', 'Book of Life', and 'Henry Fool', a Hal Hartley movie is expected to offer breathtaking, unbelievably distilled plot, dialog and wit, hilariously deadpan philosophizing and commentary, and characters that snap to your attention with their uncompromising honesty, honor, and relevance. And compared with Hartley's masterpieces, 'No Such Thing' just doesn't deliver. Having a reasonable budget and a truly professional crew for the first time let Hartley make his movie efficiently, but the late-night beer-and-honing sessions that were part of how the earlier movies achieved their brilliance never happened here. This movie got made from his rough draft, smoothly and professionally and just as it was, and before he could even do anything about it. Buy the other films first, this is for fans only.

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