An Excellent Effort

Rating: 8/10 (9 December 2012)

I don't really see what is so controversial here. Yes, the film plays around with structure - but audiences are used to seeing things like "Lost" and "Treme" and "Boardwalk Empire" where several stories are interlaced into a narrative that eventually all comes together. Is the big hoopla that this is a film and not a TV show? So what?
This is a really interesting film that forces you to engage with it in order to understand and enjoy it. Maybe that's the problem - some people are busy texting or talking instead of watching and thinking. In much the same way, Kubrick's films are boring as anything unless you actively participate in the film. Same with Tarkovsky.
And this is easily the Wachowskis best work to date. They have gone far beyond "The Matrix" and need to start being taken seriously as filmmakers. And Tykwer is great - anyone who could manage to pull of a film adaptation of PERFUME is okay in my book, and this is a worthy effort on his part.
Are there some issues? Sure. The message kinds of beats you over the head (but it does in the book as well), there could be more subtlety, maybe it would have been better suited to a TV mini-series so we could have got deeper into the cultures being explored. But just look at what they've managed to squeeze into 172 minutes. There is a LOT going on and it really isn't that difficult to follow.
Bottom line: the film is intriguing and quite beautiful, telling several stories at once and making numerous connections throughout (I caught some but I am sure there are many more through-line images and items that will reveal themselves in further viewings). Is it as complete as the book? No. Of course not. But it does a pretty good job of translating the book to the language of cinema. Perhaps the greatest achievement of the film is that it manages to be emotionally engaging despite the chopped up structure of the storytelling. That's quite a feat.
Interestingly, seeing what they did with the screen adaptation made me appreciate the book more. There really is a LOT in David Mitchell's novel and yes, I thought it a bit of a shame that we couldn't get more of that detail in the film.
Credit also has to go to the actors, especially Tom Hanks. Hanks really did a fantastic job with all his different characters. It looks like the cast had a lot of fun while doing this.
If you go to the movies often, and love the cinema, then this is a film you really ought to see, and think about and talk about. If you only go to the movies twice a year, and think of cinema as just another in a string of distractions and entertainment, maybe not. I'm not saying this is a "serious" film for "serious" film people - but if Adam Sandler or "Fast and Furious" is more your speed, you probably won't like this.