Pathetic and pretentious

Rating: 1/10 (24 May 2011)

I had very high expectations for this film. Unfortunately, it was so bad I couldn't even finish it. Where to start? First of all, every single character is a caricature and completely over the top. You can't relate to them at all. The movie tries to present itself as some deep philosophical analysis on human life, but unfortunately trivializes all that is beautiful. This is what happens what a major studio tries to make a 'indie' film. It violates the very scared ground of art and beauty, creating an atrocious piece of work...
Mendes' direction is awful and offensive. He treats viewers as if we were complete idiots. "Look here, this is what you need to know, this is what the character is feeling. You're so stupid, you can't figure it out for yourself. I have to explicitly show you everything and leave no room for ambiguity!"
As a human being, I am ashamed that this has gotten an 8.6 rating here on IMDb.