Mildy enjoyable acting, boring film.

Rating: 3/10 (18 January 2014)

I am yet another viewer who doesn't understand the accolades this film has been receiving. While the acting was (unevenly) enjoyable, the film itself was incredibly boring. After 15-20 minutes I was really ready to take a nap although, thankfully, it did pick up a little steam after that. This is the first Russell film I have seen and I can't say I was pulled in by his style. The film lacked any serious tension & release, very little well-written dialogue (Bale says much of the film was improvised - it shows!), vague plot and character development and the editing seemed confused, unnecessary or both. The only moment of real enjoyment for me came from DeNiro's brief cameo. I don't understand how this film got an Oscar nod, let alone Golden Globes. Was 2013 that bad of a film year to pick this one? WoWS was miles ahead in every way.