Reviews

I have absolutely no idea of the story line, and fortunately gave up trying. Some wonderful graphics, dance scenes and colorful interludes. What does it all mean? Just watch the ever changing scenes and don't give it a second thought.

Beautifully shot scenes coincide with the dialogue of a curious, gifted, troubled, and complicated man. The love and warmth of his relationship with his brother is palpably conveyed. Philosophically intriguing thoughts and words. Not just a script, but meaningful ideas and personal observations as well as an investigation of Van Gogh's personal motivation.

If you think there is ANY correlation between the description of the plot and reality, you're in for a big surprise. How many different ways can you say "WEAK"? Story line ?, check. Continuity?, check. Acting?, check. There's really nothing good to say about it at all.. oh yeah, the appearance of that top of the line Mercedes.. cool.

I tried. I Really tried. Mr Gilliam has made some good films, I figured this must be one of them. Alas, my confidence was misplaced.

Gilliamtries so hard to be controversial and "deep", and then makes believe he doesn't care how the film is received. In fact, we're SUPPOSED to disagree. Then, when criticized, he can put on his victim persona and declare how stupid we are for not understanding.

The actor's chore would be to figure out just who he is and why. You can practically see his mind churning as he desperately seeks motivation.

There are definitely some good performances hiding within. The Supervisor stands out. The kid must be someone's relative. He has some moments of believability, but they are rare. If you chose to watch this film, I spite of my warning, you'll see what I mean.

The visuals can be entertaining, as well as some of the costumes, but we need more than that to break above average.

No spoiler here... Just a warning. DON'T SEE THIS FILM! There, I feel a lot better now. Hopefully I will have saved someone the agony of watching this stinker.

I had such high hopes. Guillermo del Toro is the executive producer. He CERTAINLY wouldn't mislead me. (or so I thought.) Well, this missed the mark at every opportunity. Dangling plot threads, meaningless character development, unintelligible story line.

I was starting to feel some relief as the movie ended, but true to form, even that was undecipherable.

I watched this film based on del Toro's reputation. That won't happen again.

The mixed message of love and derision expressed by Jack's father is a familiar life theme. Unfortunately it is not rare enough. Perhaps one might recognize the phenomenon and thereby not perpetuate it.

Beyond that display and witnessing how distressing and damaging it can be, the film offers little more than lovely images; of which there are many. Unfortunately I don't believe it is supposed to be a "Nature Film".

We waited for some sort of plot development and by the time we realized that none would be forthcoming, we had already committed so much time, it seemed the better choice was to hope that somehow all would be revealed eventually. We were mistaken.

Let our misery be of some value and alert you to spend your valuable time elsewhere.

Believe me.. for your own sake. Don't make the same mistake we did. This film was supposed to have some tongue-in-cheek elements..Well, it is laughable, but for all the wrong reasons. It's no surprise to see Cuba Gooding make another mistake, but I was quite surprised to see Christian Slater involved in such a clunker.

I can guarantee you will be stunned at the low level of acting in this film, although the final scene may bring a legitimate laugh. Sitting through the whole thing to get there, however, is a tremendous waste of time.

I will wager that all the principles of this film hope that it just disappears without much notice. Don't add to their embarrassment by watching it too.

OK.. There are a few moments of humor, but by and large, this film is intended to titillate; no more, no less. It's part of the wave of humor that has evolved since you could get away with sex jokes and nudity in the mainstream. Now that its permitted, they're "balls to the wall" with taking advantage of the situation.

Don't let your young teenagers watch this piece of crap. They'll think this is the way everybody behaves. It's a Hollywood fantasy aimed at a young audience. Sex starved 30 somethings may watch it for the partial nudity, sexual situations and suggestive dialog.

The film tries desperately to be hip, but fails miserably. I watched because I was misled. I can admit it. You have the opportunity to pass and see something at least minimally worthwhile.

I aim the title at any who have seen this movie and had friends remind them that their mouth was hanging open as they viewed. To potential new viewers, let these remarks serve as a warning.

I will say that the musical element of the film was actually quite charming and wonderful in an absurd sort of way. It had absolutely nothing to do with the story line and initially contributed to our confusion. We soon abandoned all hope of understanding why anything occurred, but the musical interludes were always welcome.

Heaven forbid you are amongst a group or encounter others who feel the movie is worthy of analysis or discussion beyond: "What the hell was THAT all about?" It had some interesting moments, but since they never really contributed to understanding, I had to limit my rating to 3 stars.

I saw this with a large audience at the Seattle Int. Film Festival, a fairly sophisticated and accepting group of aficionados. Many still had mouths agape even as we filed out of the theater, as their disbelief and confusion was not easily overcome.

The only reason I don't give this movie a 10, is that its not a "Perfect Film". On the other hand, it is The Best Concert Film Made to Date. PERIOD. It deserves to be seen on as big a screen as you can find and turned up LOUD. I was fortunate enough to see it in a theater. I had no idea of how remarkable a performer Prince is before I saw Sign 'o' the Times . All the previous reviews will give you a much more in depth analysis, individual artist's descriptions, etc. What I have to offer is a pure gut-level reaction: We were Blown Away. My friend went back to the theater the next night to see it again. It impressed me so much, I'm getting a copy for my own collection.

We truly lucked into seeing this. The hype was about horror and scariness, which is not at all the real subject matter of this movie. I don't regularly attend such films, but there was something about it that attracted our interest.

I won't bother reiterating the details already covered. I'm simply here to tell you that when the opportunity arises, go see it.

As the film began, it seemed as though the music and theme were drawing us into yet another "fright fest". Old house, unusual history, a little boy with "imaginary friends". It appeared almost formulaic in its initial presentation. Unfortunately, that colored my first impressions. As the film developed and the story unfolded, we realized that this was indeed a quality work that some nameless distributor decided would get better attendance if a horror spin was put on the promotion.

Don't be fooled.

Just how atrocious this film is. If I can prevent one person from seeing this movie, my life shall not have been lived in vain.

Can you say shill? There can be no other explanation for some of the remarks here, promoting this film.

The incessant barrage of graphic sexual descriptions instantly reaches the level of high school titillation and exploitation. The film will be popular with those physically old enough to get in, but with an intellectual age of 13-17.

There are a few moments with some clever dialog; you'll notice them right away since they are so rare. Oh.. Hallelujah! its only about 90 minutes long.

This film is so formulaic, it should be included as a classic example of "How Obvious Can a Film Be, To Be Created to Appeal To The Lowest Common Denomenator of Filmgoers?" Unfortunately that would send people to see it, which it simply doesn't deserve.

*Watch the parade of guy actors rant about their character's pet peeve. *Prepare to suppress your gag reflex as every oral sex joke and gay stereotype is stuffed down your throat. *View with disbelief as the women are introduced and you question whether you walked into the wrong theater and somehow are watching the wrong film. *Suddenly realize that yes, they're going to subject you to the same behavior and style with all the women character's raving monologues.

There are a couple of moments of actual acting when the actors realize that they might have some fun with the portrayal of their smaller than life character.

Avoid this film at all costs.