Overpraised, poorly-paced and rather a waste

Rating: 5/10 (6 September 2006)

I hadn't seen (or read) "Barry Lyndon" until 31 years after it was released, so I can't presume to be its most receptive and sympathetic audience. However, I am a fan of period film, and count a range of such films from "Tom Jones" to "I, Claudius" to "A Cock & Bull Story" as favorites, so I should have had some affinity for this story. And as I am a fan of Kubrick's mature work, I had high expectations for "Barry Lyndon". Alas, my hopes were in vain; I believe it was a wasted opportunity on all counts.
It must be said that I had never considered Ryan O'Neal to be a very skilled actor, so his performance here was no surprise to me. The rest of the cast ranged from capable to outstanding (particularly Marisa Berenson and Murray Melvin), at least when they were given a story to work with. Thackeray may have been writing to an audience of two and a quarter centuries ago, but a competent director can breathe life into dusty words. This Kubrick largely failed to do. The pacing ranges between leisurely and glacial. Humorous conversation never sparkles, action never excites. All plods along with a drudgery that one must merely endure until the anticlimactic ending.
At first, I expected it to be a story of a man's redemption. Then it seemed like it would settle for being a morality tale. Then even that was compromised until we were left with little more than character studies, sketched for far too long to keep ones interest. The story cried out for some dynamic character, someone with whom we could feel empathy. Instead we were given period sets peopled with hollow characters going through their assigned motions, and inexorably onward to their ends.