The thing about a paint-by-numbers movie like Defiance, which is what I saw this afternoon, is that…well, okay, some of those numbers work, and sometimes they’re painted well. Clichés are so tempting because they do resonate; there is truth deep at the heart of them. But just because a movie’s at the high end of mediocrity, that doesn’t make it any less mediocre, and clichés are so problematic because ultimately they make the truth in them ring false. Defiance isn’t bad, even reasonably entertaining at time, but it’s remarkably forgettable.
WALL-E, on the other hand — which is what I watched last night — was just lovely.