Flawed, yes, but a must-see

Rating: 7/10 (28 April 2002)

Yeah, the really picky folks can hunt and peck at the flaws all they want to rationalize why they don't think this is so great, and, yeah, the flaws are there. Some scenes arguably don't belong, the "science" involved is certainly questionable, and so on. But c'mon, picky people, it would be wonderful if all films were this good. Some films can be and are great even if flawed. And this one I found engrossing, dark, sad, and beautiful. And extraordinary. You can argue whether or not some of the techniques employed haven't already been done before (the techniques for which David Lynch has become [in]famous come to mind, but they only come to mind; it's hard to pin down how exactly they're highly similar), but this film is still very unique and original. Get past the nitpicking over details and judge the story as a whole; that's what made this special for me. (E.g., something about the word "sacrifice" used in ads for the film, as it relates to the story.) It's rare that I see a film that makes so strong an impression on me, but I will indeed let some time pass and give it a second viewing to see how well it holds up.
In the meantime, I'll give it a 9 out of 10 (and I don't give out 9's very easily).