This Movie Was Not For Me

Rating: 3/10 (29 January 2002)

Say there is a painting in a gallery that is worth $1,000,000. Art critics, my friends, other people go on and on about how great this painting is. I am excited to go to the gallery and see it. I go, look at the painting, and am shocked that I don't see the triumph that others talk about. I see a grotesque thing. Are the people who think the painting is great wrong? Definitely not. Am I wrong for being in the minority of dissenters who wouldn't hang this painting in my house even if it was free? No.
I believe movies are both art and craft. All art has a different influence on and meaning for each individual who views it.
In short, I severely disliked Moulin Rouge. I will never view it again.

Am I uneducated, mislead, stupid, etc.? No, and neither are those many of you who loved this movie.
Do I need to consult source material (Orpheus or other literature recommended in previous reviews) and "educate" my ignorant self? No. Will consulting other material make me miraculously love this film? No. I don't think one needs to have studied "The Odyssey" to enjoy "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?".
I was on a date in an art museum once and my date hated a painting that was by my favorite artist (not Toulouse-Latrec :-)). I asked my date, was there at least something about the painting, anything at all, he liked? He came up with the brilliant answer: "Pretty colors."
On a similar note, there were two things I liked about this film. (1) The "Roxanne" number. I will never think of the song in the same way again. (2) Ewan McGregor. I've liked him in everything he has been in. He did a valiant job in this role.