Let's be clear. I am an old boring married guy. I watched all three films of The Human Condition with rapt attention. I can do long, slow, subtle. I am not to the best of my knowledge bereft of spirit as many reviews accuse others of.
But this? Maudlin. Boring. Hamhanded. Too long by a factor of ten. I mean, so badly paced I was bored after 20 minutes, then noticed it's Three Hours Long.
Once I was about 45 minutes in and started getting the gist of the characters, I could figure out a better way to write about half the lines. The "death and taxes" callback in a movie that respected our intelligence should have been "only two things in life are inevitable, Drew."
Oh, except for Death. He was... conveniently written. Unaware AND all knowing. Sometimes in the same sentence. Things this contrived do not work to make me get absorbed into a film.
Well acted by pretty much everyone (Brad Pitt was... not well characterized so I didn't like him one bit in either role, but that's probably not his fault). Even the supporting characters did a great job. But terrible script, terribly edited, and I don't care what anyone says: quite pedestrian cinematography.
But this? Maudlin. Boring. Hamhanded. Too long by a factor of ten. I mean, so badly paced I was bored after 20 minutes, then noticed it's Three Hours Long.
Once I was about 45 minutes in and started getting the gist of the characters, I could figure out a better way to write about half the lines. The "death and taxes" callback in a movie that respected our intelligence should have been "only two things in life are inevitable, Drew."
Oh, except for Death. He was... conveniently written. Unaware AND all knowing. Sometimes in the same sentence. Things this contrived do not work to make me get absorbed into a film.
Well acted by pretty much everyone (Brad Pitt was... not well characterized so I didn't like him one bit in either role, but that's probably not his fault). Even the supporting characters did a great job. But terrible script, terribly edited, and I don't care what anyone says: quite pedestrian cinematography.