Visually enticing, but boring, cliché, and predictable.

Rating: 3/10 (8 November 2010)

I give this a 3/10.
All the performances in this movie are top-notch. Jared Leto has earned a new-found respect in my eyes for a convincing and engrossing portrayal of Nemo Nobody. I hadn't seen him in anything I consider memorable (since I can't remember anything) since Requiem for a Dream. Sarah Polley, an actress who can't seem to break into anything other than supporting roles, shows real talent and brings slap-in-the-face realism to her character, Elise.
While special effects seem to be what makes or breaks a movie these days (hint: if the entire movie is a special effect, it's not very special any more), this film uses them to great advantage. The transitions between scenes of the alternate realities presented are well done, not too overwhelming, and do somewhat mimic the human minds dream process.
That all sounds like positive feedback, and you may be wondering why I give this movie three stars. Where I have an issue is the basic storyline. I used the words boring, cliché, and predictable, which may seem out of place for a movie that, admittedly, breaks a lot of new ground in the cookie-cutter world of American Cinema.
Movies of this type seem to focus, really, on one thing: Such and such a man, trapped in time, going back over the events of his life.... and the women he loved.
I say movies of this type, because Fincher's Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Coppola's Youth Without Youth are almost the exact same movie, albeit with different twists and less dramatic special effects.
The whole "... and the women he's loved" aspect seems to be an excuse to throw in gratuitous nudity and longer-than-necessary sex scenes that, when viewed in context of the story being told, add absolutely nothing to the experience at hand. The majority of the storyline concerning Nemo and Anna added little to the overall story beside tits and sex scenes.
It used to be that slasher movies and B-films is where you found all the nudity and simulated sex. Thrusting and panting never used to make it to the big screen, and while it may be just a sign of the times, I find it detracts from the overall experience rather than adds anything to it. It's out of place, seems tacked on for the sake of putting asses into cinema seats, and is just a way to entice men into watching what would, otherwise just be another chick-flick.
That's why this film gets three stars from me. It's a run-of-the-mill chick-flick with snappy "special" effects and a healthy dose of T&A.