Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Look, this film should absolutely polarise people and in an era of soon forgotten blockbusters and endless sequels, surely that is not a bad thing. As someone who watches movies that could be classified as indie/arthouse and enjoyed Malick's The Thin Red Line, I went into this film with an open mind, looking for and expecting something different and it certainly delivered on that. It is basically a film about the dysfunctional relationship between a father and his eldest son in the 1950's Mid-West, dealing with the death of a sibling and also tackles all the big issues such as faith, loss, the meaning of life, our place in the universe etc....in a very abstract way and is shown mostly in flashback. There is very little dialogue to speak of (no pun intended), especially in the first hour (which I needed the patience of Job to get through) and throughout the film you are shown a lot of beautifully shot, wistful, mostly imaginary sequences which you are left to ponder. The acting is well done, as they are mainly asked to convey emotion rather than deliver words, with Hunter McCracken who plays the young Jack particularly impressive. There is a rather long sequence on the creation of the Universe/Earth (a tribute to 2001?) complete with dinosaurs(!!!)which is nicely done but after half an hour had me checking my fingernails and I'm sure the literati will argue for hours over a chilled Pinot as to what it all means. Apparently, there is a semi-autobiographical tone to this film which may explain Malick's self-indulgence but that doesn't mean I have to embrace its long-windedness. For me personally, I prefer much much more of a talk fest than this, so it was never going to work for me and the almost 2.5 hours I had to sit through this film I found a total bore and except for possibly the last third when people actually began to speak, quite excruciating,however I willed myself to watch it all as a matter of honour. Weirdo David Lynch's Blue Velvet is one of my favourite films of all time but it is like an action blockbuster compared to this dreary and oh-so slow moving flick. You may have heard the expression "a musicians album" when dealing with new music releases, which basically means that even though the skill of the people involved is not in question, only people in the industry will get it and I would put this film in that sort of category, where no doubt fellow directors and film students would enjoy this work as it is very artistic and well made but the majority will not. Think of the longest 70's prog/art rock album (Tubular Bells anyone?)put out as an interpretive music video by an accomplished but eccentric director, without a script and you will get the idea. Mainstream blockbuster lovers should stay well away and those who don't mind something a little left of centre should think very carefully and proceed with caution. This film is ambitious, poetic and challenging but it is also pretentious,over-long and deliberately obscure. If you have endless patience and prefer dreamy images that could be interpreted in many varied ways, nary a scriptwriter in sight and barely audible eerie background whispers then this is the one for you, but definitely not me.