fairly good, but certainly not great

Rating: 5/10 (15 February 1999)

I guess I'm the only person around who didn't really enjoy this movie. I found it very difficult to like Christian Bale's character, and I don't know why. The movie itself was too long, and had too many cliches. I kept waiting for Basie to tussle Jim's hair playfully and say, "You did good, kid. You did real good." I'd have to say that this is my least favorite Steven Spielberg movie. It lacked the emotion of "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan," exchanging it for melodrama.