A lifeless, overproduced mess

Rating: 4/10 (8 March 2012)

I generally like Scorsese, but this is just a masturbatory exercise in labored "cinema tribute" that could not possibly do anything but bore children silly and make adults' eyes roll. An awful screenplay gives us characters we care nothing about and situations that have all the dramatic heft of a Rankin-Bass Christmas special - for a numbing two hours and five minutes. Still can't understand why this got so many Oscar nominations (they must have been all technical ones). This movie would make a great double feature with The Polar Express as an example of how to pack a screen full of eye-popping visuals but ice-cold lack of human interest. Strictly for fans of Scorsese, moviegoers who love overdressed sets, and clock aficionados only.