Much Ado About Nothing

Rating: 2/10 (2 February 2008)

Steven Spielberg is a sadist. If this movie isn't evidence enough then I direct your attention to "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" He tortured the animated shoes to death. Enough said.
This film centers around another ineffectual protagonist though it isn't his fault as he is the offspring of ineffectual parents. It is very hard to care much about any of them as they persist at calling their unfortunate fates down upon their own heads. One could try to argue that this is a coming of age film and that the young Jim isn't responsible for the actions he takes at the start of the film, but he isn't that young and he doesn't manage to evolve so much as become further damaged.
Visually this film would have been stunning if Spielberg wasn't busy beating the audience about the head with his "poignant" images -- footsteps in powder blowing away when a window is opened, a building sized poster for "Gone with the Wind" as the cruel wind blows on our downtrodden hero, the trappings of aristocracy gathered and abandoned in an empty arena that is occupied by the starving masses. We get it, but does he? Just to make sure we don't miss the point that war is hell he kills off Jim's young Japanese friend after the danger has cleared for everyone else. It is a senseless act of violence just like war; or is just gratuitous for the pleasure of a man hellbent on prolonging the pain of his audience? In typical Spielberg fashion, within moments the death is forgotten and a happy ending is had by all -- except, of course, the expendable minority character.