"My Life Extends Far Beyond the Limitations of Me"

Rating: 8/10 (21 June 2013)

This film's upholders rave about how brilliant and meaningful it is, while its detractors rant about how pretentious and nonsensical it is.
I can see both sides of the argument, but let me just say this. One has to have 3 solid hours and a great deal of patience to spare before watching CLOUD ATLAS. Anyone who has those two things and views this film fairly attentively should at least see that the plot-line DOES make sense. Not having read David Mitchell's original novel, I know I missed a few things on first view, and the beginning in particular was mind-blendingly confusing. We generally expect the opening of a story/film to "hook" us, establish the basic cast of characters and conflicts, and all that sort of stuff. This would be hard to accomplish in a work of this sort, which is a bit like THE MATRIX meets THE English PATIENT.
I stayed with CLOUD ATLAS, and though it wore me out, I was able to appreciate the whole story of domino effects spanning over centuries of human history: How acts of both kindness and malice trickle down, ripple out, and so forth. There's nothing "brilliant" or even particularly original about that, but I know of very few films that tie together so many settings in time and place this well.
CLOUD ATLAS may not seem like the sort of thing to see for easy entertainment, but I think the best advice comes from those who recommend just watching this film for "the ride." The cinematography, setting and costume design, and special effects are all quite amazing even by today's standards. You don't have to catch all the details to appreciate what's basically going on here, and new stuff will emerge with each re-view.
And if you don't like it, well, just turn it off.