Ultimately a let-down

Rating: 5/10 (9 June 2015)

Like a lot of other people, I suppose, I wanted to see this film because of all the critical praise it garnered; and I think it safe to say that also like a lot of other people: I just didn't understand all the critical praise it garnered.
Of course, it is easy to understand that it was technically masterful, but on the other hand – it was not something that has never been done before. Aside from seeing Keaton in a wonderfully-apt role, a role which was well-acted, there really wasn't much else going on here. None of the other characters felt well-developed, and they almost felt entirely perfunctory – most of the supporting characters' plot-lines went nowhere and left you wondering why their scenes were incorporated into the movie at all - the kiss between Watts and Riseborough being a glaring point here. This could really have been a one-man show. Then there was the "score," the "soundtrack." There is a reason an all-drums score has never been done before. It's because it's annoying as fack. It was almost enough to make me want to put the DVD on mute and flip the subtitles on and just read the damn thing. This is only the second movie I've seen (the first being the grating, ear-blistering Picnic at Hanging Rock) where the music has annoyed me to the point of apoplexy.
At the end of the day: I was rather disappointed by this film, and I'm not a chicken when it comes to cerebral cinema; I like movies that make me think, that initially confuse the b'Jesus out of me only to be delighted by the epiphany (Mulholland Drive being the prime example). I once read that sometimes, in literature, people confuse an abstruse narrative for masterful writing and I think the same can be applied to film; not everything 'complex' or 'profound' is necessarily masterful cinema. Sometimes it's just a convoluted mess. While I won't go so far as to say it was one of the worst films I've seen in the past year or so, it certainly wouldn't win my 'Best Picture,' and I reckon it was interesting in its uninteresting way.
Good performances, technically interesting to watch but there are much better films out there to spend two hours watching. Also: if you're going into this expecting a comedy, you're in for big a surprise...