Intense...it will AFFECT you!

Rating: 10/10 (1 April 2006)

I've read of lot of the negative comments on this year's Oscar winner for Best Picture, and to a certain extent I agree with the fact that Paul Haggis' script is a tad unrealistic and perhaps even a bit amateurish. His direction is indeed heavy-handed and the film, from its dialog, its acting, its soundtrack, are all so very manipulative. But you know what...so what!? I loved this film! All of the snobbish film-student types can say all they want about how bad this film is on so many levels (some levels of which the average movie-goer could care less about). I loved this film because it affected me, on not only a cerebral level (I talked about this film and discussed it with many friends and family for days) to an emotional / gut level (it has probably two of the most intense and almost horrifying scenes I've ever experienced in cinema). This film goes for your heart and gut and crushes it and squishes it and makes you uncomfortable, but leaves you hopeful at the end. Will you experience this film in the same intense way that I felt? Perhaps - and then again, perhaps not. But you will experience something, and it will AFFECT you...positively or negatively. And that's what I love about the cinema and this film.
A worthy recipient of the Oscars! Go see it for yourself and make your own judgments!