A movie of two halves...

Rating: 5/10 (22 December 2015)

Perplexing movie, as it is essentially a movie of two parts, and the two parts are vastly different in quality. The earlier part is boring, with a drifting, random plot and some incredibly cringeworthy acting by Brad Pitt ("overacting" understates it!). The WW1 scenes are particularly unrealistic and style-over-substance
However, just when you've given up on the movie, it all starts to come together. A revenge thread is added, which makes for some of the more intriguing scenes in the movie. The family-drama thread also comes together, at last. Similarly, Brad Pitt's performance becomes more convincing.
Would have been a pretty good movie if the first 45-60 minutes had been slimmed down and the plot tightened up.