Points for degree of difficulty

Rating: 6/10 (10 April 2018)

Like "The Girl on the Train" and any Dan Brown book exactly what makes Ernst Cline's novel excellent makes for a just decent cinematic experience. The novel engages in dense and luxurious world-building and an intricate puzzle-box plot which unfolds degree-by-degree. By necessity of their compressed run-times, movies need to get through the set up (unless you are M. Night Shyalaman whose films constitute mostly setup). The medium limits the plot points to only a few switchbacks (again unless you are M. Night Shyalaman and you put all your switchbacks into a one big reveal). The limitations present headwinds that Spielberg takes a mighty swing at slipping but with limited success. The film's key draw, as you would expect, come from Spielberg's immersive and imaginative visuals and not from the rushed plot or flat performances. The motion picture also provides nostalgic value to those of a certain age through dozens of visual references ("there's 'Bigfoot', the king of the monster trucks back in the 80s!"). In short, to misquote the immortal words of the Gin Blossoms, if you don't expect too much, you might not be let down".