Plot less, pointless mess

Rating: 2/10 (29 August 2011)

The only thing that's even remotely interesting in this film is the premise, and the synopsis you might read on the back cover. Everything else it throws at you fails miserably. There is no coherent plot to speak of throughout the whole 2something hours of artsy advertising editing and camera focus tricks. After the first half hour, you might be fooled that there is some deeper meaning to the whole thing but you'll get some pop science theories thrown in just for the sake of it. The dialog is completely useless. There is not a single even semi-important bit of information that is carried by dialog here. You'd think the director would then rely on strong images but no. All the storytelling is left to annoying editing and even more annoying musical selection. Sorry, but you're not Basil Poledouris and your cues and tunes cannot carry a poorly thought out film. The underlying idea that this mess is trying to convey is the ramification of choice -- which is really just an excuse to cram in a multitude of superficial main and supporting characters instead of fewer meaningful ones. Contrary to what some might believe, not having a plot and/or solid characterization does not make a film more alternative or intelligent. It just makes it barely watchable. The only thing worth seeing here is the actresses, who are all excellent. Overall, it just feels like the director wanted to say: "Oh, look what I can do with Final Cut!"