ArcherFish

The one star barrage is clearly the work of Bots who simply wish to bash Obama as a producer of this film. The writing is very clunky in the beginning. Not great character work. Lazy filmmaking. Using the camera to distract from a lack of true expression and meaning. The music and opening credits is more fitting for a TV show than a film with a serious or even satirical theme. Very jarring. That said, the second half of the film and the overall meaning gets more and more interesting as the movie progresses. The ending, although simplistic, is chock full of meaning. If you didn't like it, I assume the character is you and you aren't aware of what's happening in the world. Julia Roberts' character is supposed to be a misanthrope and her bad attitude on constant display is evidence, but there's no clear meaning or delineation behind this. Ali is great as always but his character is unnecessarily vague and all the characters seem to hide relatively harmless information from each other. Like I said, direction is bad, filmmaking and camera work is awful. Music is mediocre. Acting is decent. But overall message and theme is great. And truly a frightening concept. Worth watching for that alone. This, even with its flaws, still transcends the average Hollywood movie about nothing or revenge.

It's a masterpiece. If you can't sit still for 3 hours you are a simpleton. The story plays out intentionally and slowly but is never boring. What most modern film audiences do not understand is theme. Especially complex ones. They walk into a literate film made by professional adults and think it's boring. Stick to Marvel. Good vs. Evil. This ain't that. This is a perfectly paced meditative triumph of European greed and those that suffered for it. Corruption at every level for the pure purpose of greed. If you don't pay attention to the news, it's all around us. Ever since this country's founding. If PT Anderson mimicked Scorcese's film catalogue, this is Scorcese returning the favor. This is his There Will Be Blood. But with less "acting." The main character is unfolded slowly. We want redemption for him. But like most American capitalists enjoying the fruits of someone else's bounty, we understand that he just does what he does because he is us. He wants to sit around and do nothing and gamble and drink at night. Sounds like the modern populous. The acting is solid all the way around and no character is wasted. Cinematography is perfect. Score is anxiety inducing and hypnotic, giving the sense that the villain, like a metronome, understands that this is the long game and in the end, the white man will be victorious no matter how much blood is shed. An outstanding achievement. More In league with Age of Innocence rather than Casino or Goodfellas.