James Horner is the star

Rating: Null/10 (12 August 2003)

I've read a goodly number of the reviews here and I tend to disagree with most of them. True, Brad Pitt is too pretty for this but the real problem with him, as with most of the actors except Hopkins, is the idea of "buy-in". They just aren't fully invested in the thing emotionally. When Pitt gets "riled" and does a "Fight Club" number on someone -- he's in his element, but otherwise, no. And I won't even mention that mane of hair on the front lines in WWI...please...and the preposterous notion that all 3 brothers would be in the same unit at the same battle at the same time....absurd, but handy. The "Indian sequence with the heart' in the middle of the war truly bordered on the hilarious for me - that was an eye-roller, but I 'got it'. It's the MUSIC that makes it epic and grand and underscores the magnificent scenery. However, even James Horner can get a little too heavy-handed for my tastes.
One aspect that I found most accurate as far as much of 'real life' goes and disturbingly unnoticed is the female role. She gets the goods from all 3 of them. How nice for her. She can 'lament' all her other loves while living rent free, work free (unless you count wrangling horses with Brad)and for the most part doing quite well for herself. She just appears and ruins the whole bloody family. Well, that's the "Fall" I suppose and the legends associated with it. To me, it was nauseating to see her divide and conquer for 2 hours. Those poor saps. If she hadn't come along, well, I guess there would never have been a movie or a book. The suicide was just plain bizarre....but, well, ok fine.
I don't rate this film all that highly but not because it's "convoluted", it's not --- it's very straightforward, it just requires too many leaps of logic. Maybe 4 to 5 stars..... I've seen it once and that's plenty.