Nocturnal Animals (3 Stars)

I missed this film when it was in the cinema two years ago. Normally I would go to see any film that stars Jake Gyllenhaal. I forget what the reason was. Probably there were too many other good films being shown at the time.

Edward Sheffield and Susan Sutton were students in New York. Edward studied literature, Susan studied art. Those are both creative subjects, but their career choices were different. Edward wanted to become an author, while Anne wanted to become the manager of an art gallery. The two got married, but the difference in their attitudes between wanting to create art and administer art is what eventually tore them apart. Susan couldn't relate to Edward's stories. When Susan met a handsome young businessman who had nothing to do with creating art she left Edward to be with him.

After the divorce Edward and Susan didn't see each other for 19 years. That's a long time. Now Susan's husband is having an affair, and she's beginning to think that she should have stayed with Edward. She's pleasantly surprised when Edward mails her the manuscript for a new novel that he's dedicated to her.

Over the next few days Susan sits reading the novel, and the story becomes more important to her than her real life.

The film tells three stories. The first story takes place in the present, Susan's relationship to her husband. The second story is told in flashbacks, and it concerns her romance and break up with Edward 19 years ago. The third story is the novel, in which she imagines Edward playing the main part, the family father Tony Hastings.

Supposedly Edward's marriage with Susan was the inspiration for the novel. She sees a connection, I don't. The film is too random for me. The opening scene with the naked women dancing in stars and stripes costumes is so thinly connected to the rest of the film that it seems to be nothing more than gratuitous sensationalism.

I watched "Nocturnal Animals" on Amazon Prime today. Amazon and Netflix are the two largest providers of streaming content, films and television series. They are mutually exclusive. Anything shown by Netflix isn't available on Amazon, and anything shown by Amazon isn't available on Netflix. Despite Amazon having less material than Netflix, it has several advantages over Netflix, especially in Germany.

1. Amazon Prime customers get free delivery of parcels from Amazon.

2. Amazon Prime is much cheaper than Netflix, 69 Euros per year instead of 11 Euros per month.

3. Amazon Prime members are eligible to a free credit card.

I need to say more about the third point. In England and America credit cards are usually free. That isn't the case in Germany. Almost all credit cards have a yearly fee of 30 to 50 Euros. The Amazon Prime credit card is very valuable to German customers, so the yearly Amazon Prime price is effectively only 39 Euros. Apart from this, the card has a cashback offer of 1% for normal purchases, 2% for purchases from Amazon. As far as I know there are no other cashback credit cards in Germany, which makes it Germany's best credit card by far.

Sign up for Amazon Prime, even if you're already a Netflix customer. It's worth it.

Success Rate:  - 0.6

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