Talk about having to suspend belief... I've seen some pretty amazing 6-degrees of separation situations, in real life, but this movie asks you to accept some pretty long odds for the connections between the various characters in this movie. Ultimately, after all the dominoes fall, it turns out to be all Antonio Banderas' fault. Does the final result, of a loving couple and their child, justify all the tragedy brought to 8 or 9 other lives? I'd say "no", but we're asked to accept that it is, in the final scene of the film. Narration is so overused, while simultaneously being analysed by the narrator(s) (O-o-oh! So deep!), it's insulting to the audience.
A lot of people viewing this movie talk about the situations pulling at their heartstrings, and finding themselves crying a lot. I'm one of those guys who cries at just about everything. There are TV commercials I've seen 3 dozen times, and I cry every time I see them. I think this film made one of my eyes well up a bit, once, and that was it. The characters are so contrived and overly emotional, that I just couldn't buy in. Did not have a single tear roll down my cheek. In some cases, I actually laughed out loud, at moments that were supposed to be tragic, as the situations were just too ridiculous.
It is not the worst movie of the year, but it won't win any Oscars, either. There are movies that you just know you won't watch again, no matter how bored you are. This is one of those. Thankfully, I didn't have to pay for tickets, or I would have been angry. I took my wife, thinking she might like it, but she found it too depressing. If it had had a few more uplifting moments, she may have been ok with it.
A lot of people viewing this movie talk about the situations pulling at their heartstrings, and finding themselves crying a lot. I'm one of those guys who cries at just about everything. There are TV commercials I've seen 3 dozen times, and I cry every time I see them. I think this film made one of my eyes well up a bit, once, and that was it. The characters are so contrived and overly emotional, that I just couldn't buy in. Did not have a single tear roll down my cheek. In some cases, I actually laughed out loud, at moments that were supposed to be tragic, as the situations were just too ridiculous.
It is not the worst movie of the year, but it won't win any Oscars, either. There are movies that you just know you won't watch again, no matter how bored you are. This is one of those. Thankfully, I didn't have to pay for tickets, or I would have been angry. I took my wife, thinking she might like it, but she found it too depressing. If it had had a few more uplifting moments, she may have been ok with it.