8 on a scale of 10

Rating: 8/10 (7 July 2002)

This is a movie that is nearly perfectly made. It is also a movie that has a brilliantly conceived idea. Very creative. I admire just about everything about it. The direction by Spielberg was typically fantastic. Amazingly enough, I could find almost no holes or contradictions despite the unbelievable risks it takes with time lines.
And, although 8 is a good rating - and I really probably would give it an 8.4, it still didn't quite do enough for me. I was never bored. I was satisfied with the ending. The acting was especially good. There really isn't a whole lot to criticize. In fact, even the genre is one that I have a bias for. But, there was something that kept it from being a 9 or 10.
I think it boils down to this. It was too long and it required too much work. I realize that 2 hours is no big deal, but the intensity and constant mental gymnastics required were just more than I felt like giving on the day I went. If I was less mentally exhausted from work and had all the time in the world, I probably would have rated it higher. Now, that's not the movie's fault, but I have to rate it based on my own experience.
I remember other past/future movies that I thought were great - and I had to think hard to appreciate them too. But, as I think about them as I write this, I realize I wouldn't necessarily want to see them today either. I guess the moral of the story is that any movie is subject to the particular point you are in your life. At least for now, give me something simple. Life is complicated enough.