just take out the first twenty minutes or so...

Rating: 9/10 (1 March 2000)

And I would then say this film deserves all the praise it receives. Being the huge film buff that I am, I decided last week that I finally needed to see this, the most important film ever made. But, initially, I was really disappointed. The first twenty minutes or so, with the newsreel footage and the reporters, was really jarring to me, and I even considered not watching the rest of the film (I did stop watching it until the next day).
But, when Welles finally took center stage so to speak, the film became entirely riveting. I was really impressed. This is certainly one of the best character studies I've ever seen captured on film. And I've never seen a movie recover so well from such a weak introduction. Really, this would be a perfect movie if only those first twenty or so minutes weren't there. 9/10