Destination...Nowhere!

Rating: 7/10 (20 September 2007)

I really don't know what to make of this movie. I am a staunch Sergio Leone fan, his spaghetti westerns and his once upon a time movies. But this movie is kind of a mixed bag for me. Like GODFATHER III, this is a case of a great story, but at the end of the movie, you're left asking that famous immortal question..."WHAT?" This is a great journey that in the end, goes nowhere. I have no problem with a long story, or with the jumping back and forth in time, or with the many plot lines. It's just that at the end, this great story began to collapse under its own weight and we got an ending that didn't make any sense. And I don't buy into the theory that this was all an opium-induced dream. If that were the case, this whole damn story would be totally pointless, just a waste of time. I doubt very seriously that Leone would cheap shot his audience like that. It would be taking an awful long time to say, in effect, "I was only kidding, folks." A joke is a joke, but for that much effort? Eh...
Like I said, it told a great story, but it doesn't seem to have an ending. Just Noodles with that goofy smile and you don't really know why, other than he's stoned out of his gourd. 7 out of 10.