An Attempt at a film like "The Hours" that fails to hit the mark

Rating: 4/10 (5 August 2013)

This film I guess is a valid attempt at a great film like "The Hours" that just fails to hit the mark. Pretty vapid and bad, the metaphors the morals, the quotes, the philosophy's expressed the time sliced plot switching are all awful, the parables trite, if this is representative of the novel, I pity the novel to. This film seems to be a barometer of those who think they can identify a quality film, whereas really its just an idiot test. The themes are played too much Hollywood / Disney style similarly the stereotyped characters, the oppressed winning through, the cultural reversal, the playing upon other story's too greatly, soy-lent green anyone ? its all so very child like and ham-fisted. And not helped by the fact they have used the same actors for so many parts with only poor make up, to set the characters apart as different from the small range of the actors faces used, and it doesn't really work, nor is it convincing or even logical, and certainly if the intention was to make the cross time parallel character scenario pairings rub nose obvious, its awkward and unnecessary, European's trying to play Asian's, Asian's trying to play western belles and Mexicans etc it just comes off as awkward in fact I don't see how its any less racist than blacking up, you want to portray people of a certain race ? why not simply hire people to play such roles ? instead of using makeup and prosthetics to this extent , or was it a budgetary constraint ? yes one can quite clearly see how it would tickle an actors ego, to be in such a film as they get to attempt to demonstrate their range in the same film, but really its just jarring for the film and there is an effort to try to crudely and artificially stitch the time lines to each other in some ways cross time to end up with some many lives interacting metaphor etc, but some of the lines in this film are heinous and hackneyed, most of the scenario and character relationships you see coming before they're even on the screen practically. The fact this film is rated is so highly is an indictment, I find it hard to believe people cant see through this films general film flam. Its valid to attempt such films but when it fails, its seems more dis-ingenuous, then those films that are at least honest about limited intellect popcorn schlock. It also mildly wreaks to some extent vague populist propaganda of white European's and intolerance of any sort to anything as bad and other globally exported American cultural philosophies. Worst point it plays to a American multicultural audience with ponderous stereotypes, the pseudo Mexican Asian woman (again real bad makeup) who quips "don't call me a wetback" over the corpse of the evil white gunman who she has bludgeoned to death for shooting her Chihuahua dead, this is cheesy playing to the audience style humour. The philosophical lines such as : "love could outlive death" and "it will never amount to more than a single drop in a limitless ocean" which was sadly followed by - "what is an ocean but a multitude of drops" - I mean really really  if this kind of trite display of child philosophies that appeal to the masses then I guess my review is nought more than  let me see  which rubbish metaphor shall I pick?  A drop of intelligence in an ocean of ignorance?