The Sudden Stop at the End

Rating: Null/10 (10 September 2004)

I'll keep this short. I really do not like Zwick's style of film--reason being that he sees the story and characters as the most important elements. In his films we are supposed to watch characters work the plot out. Boring.
People alone does not make good cinema. If you want people, read a book because you can imagine the person in a better context.
That's why Zwick's images fail. Real artists like the Scott brothers or Kubrick think in images first, all else comes second. Zwick thinks that people drive films and so emphasizes the importance of the actors. He can only make his work "so beautiful" before it detracts from his requirements for the story. That's where he loses.
Compare the boredom of World War I here with what Gilliam did in '12 Monkeys'; a thousand times more interesting on less money.
Why we don't notice this (and why his stuff has had three Oscar noms for photography) is beyond me. Everything here is primetime TV drama-grade material from the music to the editing. So abysmal.