Disappointing

Rating: 5/10 (23 January 2014)

Disappointing. Original, innovative and thought-provoking, yet dull and pretentious. Initially very good, painting a very depressing and superficial possible future for society (and not just future, it shows up the superficiality of our present too). All done in an imaginative and highly plausible way.
Up until about the 40% mark, writer-director Spike Jonze was in top form. Then at a point he just runs out of ideas. From this mark the movie just drifts, drags and goes nowhere. Point made early, the rest feels like padding.
Having wandered around aimlessly for about an hour, the ending then feels rushed, and quite obvious and trite.
Performances are OK, especially considering what the actors had to work with in the middle and later stages of the movie. Nobody really stands out though.
This movie had the potential to be something incredibly profound, but falls short.