Lisa D

This film would have benefited from fresh eyes outside the Wes Anderson clique. Certain details distracted from rather than enhancing the story line. The rapid-fire dialogue and subtitles that were (deliberately?) hard to process, the use of black and white v. color, the inconsistent musical score. All of this resulted in sensory overload that led about 1/10 of the audience in my screening to leave early. The best acting is in the first segment, The Concrete Masterpiece, which makes the remainder of the film a bit of a slog by comparison.

I wanted to like this film. It was overwrought. Too many of the scenes defied believability - and yes, I’m aware it’s based on a true story. For example, there is no way an auditorium full of people sat in utter rapt silent attention while he went on and on and on about his dad and...Bruce. I’m a Springsteen fan and I feel like I could now go a few years without hearing his name, after hearing it dozens of times in 2 hours.

I could not relax and enjoy this film, because I was convinced the first reel was fed incorrectly, despite knowing films are now digitized. I still cannot fathom why the scenes were scattered randomly through time. This did not serve an effective flashback/tension building role at all, and the characters did not age or mature in any discernible way. One of my greatest disappointments was that apparently Jo’s editor’s proclamations ruled the story line, rather than any true character development. Yes, all the women are either married or dead by the end, defying lack of chemistry between the obligatory matched pairs. I’m giving it three stars for the costuming and props, and for Saoirse Ronan, who gave it her all. This is what made me able to engage with the film enough to make it through.