Great music, overrated film.

Rating: 7/10 (6 February 2015)

This is a smokescreen movie, like Donnie Darko. Like Donnie Darko, it involves different time periods, and the events in each build a complex plot. Or, do they? Donnie Darko actually didn't make sense at all, and the connections between the stories in Cloud Atlas are actually, in the main, irrelevant. The leaping from story to story, time to time, may be considered clever and challenging, but it serves to further add unwarranted complexity to the five or six strands of the whole. Yes, some characters in some parts are relatives of those in other parts,but this doesn't really have any influence on the story. This conceit is illustrated in the episode on the sailing ship in which our protagonist is reading a book, half of which he can't find because its propping up a table leg. The book was written by the central character of a different story - so what? The only effective use of the vehicle is in the futuristic episodes, where the 'manufactured' serving girl turns out to be the god worshipped by a later generation. I've read the book as well, and my disappointment extended to it too. The film looks good though, and the acting is fine. For me, the theme music is the outstanding aspect of this overrated movie.