Posted: 8/6/2011 10:53:21 PM EDT
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Did anyone else see it? Same writer director as The Thin Red Line. I enjoyed it. I'm not really sure I've ever seen anything like it. Kind of reminds me of Biutiful, with Javier Bardem. I think any male who grew up in the last half of the 20th century can strongly relate to it. I think it would suck on netflix... must be seen on the big screen.  |
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I saw it, and it sucked. The director tried waaaaay too hard to be 'deep', and the plot is nonexistent. The movie just skips from scene to scene in the young Penn's life, WITHOUT following up on any of the themes introduced. Religion, trust, loyalty, competition, etc. are all introduced, but NEVER developed any more beyond 'this kid did x'. As a result, the movie has no direction and no underpinning theme that ties all the material together.
15 minutes of it is just looking at space effects and evolution of the world until you hit a small Texas family in the 50's, which I guess has already been done before in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The sparse dialog is also not helpful, and rather than increase any mood or sense of setting, the already lacking plot line leaves the viewer wondering no more than "ok, so what's happening now?" The voice overs do NOTHING to help in either regard, preferring instead to shoot for the 'deep' angle, rather than trying to tie a coherent plot together. And the worst part is the ending. If you don't see the Church of Latter-Day Saint's logo coming by the time you watch Sean Penn and about 100 of the most cookie-cutter 'diversity' cast all meeting together at a beach, then you probably deserve to have to watch this movie. I liked the Thin Red Line, but now I've got to reconsider that in the face of how made this movie ate a dick. And I even saw it in theaters, on IMAX. People walked out. It was BAD. |
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Definitely not a movie for everyone. And even then, I usually think Malick's movies are about 30 or 45 minutes longer than they should be.
Nonetheless, I think it is a very interesting movie if you know what you are getting into. Not so much entertainment as a musing on existence. If you want to see 'splosions and titties, its not for you. I was glad I saw it but I didn't like the ending and The Thin Red Line is better, imho. |