Very Overrated

Rating: 5/10 (12 March 2006)

After hearing the buzz about this film, I have to say I was quite disappointed with it. While the ensemble cast was quite wonderful, I felt the film just didn't work. Too many of the characters were clichés and everyone's being a racist in one way or another just didn't just didn't sit well with me, I can't recall seeing a film so stockpiled with despicable characters. For me, the films relentless jumping from one story to another under-minded any power that an individual story might have. And while the point was to show the relationship between these seemingly unrelated events, in the end it felt like a gimmick. Kudos to the filmmakers for trying to deal with a sensitive and important issue. However, well meaning and ambitious their intentions, it still doesn't make for a good film. The fact that this one won the Oscar shows what a great marketing campaign can do. The fact that it sits at number 82 on the IMDb's all time list makes me wonder about the integrity of the list. Ballot stuffing anyone?