Bizarre.

Rating: 4/10 (30 June 2005)

Kubrick was a masterful director. I personally adore both 2001 and The Shining - as close to cinematic perfection as you can come - and there is a lot to admire in the style and controversy of A Clockwork Orange, too. However, even the greatest directors make mistakes, and this was Kubrick's second (his first being Lolita). This lavish period piece telling of the exploits of 18th Century Irishman Barry Lyndon has little to recommend it beyond the helmer's name.
Technically, there is some accomplished work in terms of composition of shot and the deliberate imitation of a past style of painting. As a film, though, Barry Lyndon is a variously tortuous and unrewarding watch - there are entertaining moments here and there, and nothing stands out as obviously bad, but neither does anything stand out as obviously great. It is as mediocre an experience as you could ask for - and running at close to three hours mediocre is not exactly called for. To say that it starts well and ends less well does not very well do it much of a service.
But what do we ask of great directors? We ask for profundity, passion, insight, vision and excellence. None of these qualities are at all present in Barry Lyndon, a film without much point or energy, which is, in the end, overblown and rightly overlooked by the majority of film fans. Viewers looking for a Kubrick masterpiece would do well to avoid this one.