But ... it's really bad!

Rating: 1/10 (13 December 2005)

I just can't believe there's nobody else who feels as I do about this movie. I'm not a film snob, and will try to see the good in most movies, but I just found this one hugely objectionable. It actually made me so angry, sitting watching it in the cinema, that I nearly became one of those people who makes derisive noises & spoils it for everyone else (managed to keep a lid on it though, just barely). It's so, SO intensely irritating! I have a feeling nobody here will agree but I need to express this. It's annoying because it has:
1)Lame, clichéd characterizations (not the lead, but supporting/minor characters, eg his family, particularly all the women in the family) 2)Patronizing depiction of mental illness (I don't mean to criticize Rush's acting here. It's more the combined effect of script/direction/production) 3)Incredibly heavy-handed, clichéd depiction of the father's issues resulting from surviving the Holocaust (ditto above comment; I didn't have a problem with the actual performance) 4)General oversimplification, hollowness and reliance on emotional manipulation to cover up a lack of insight
The above intruded so much on my consciousness that I just couldn't ignore them & let myself get caught up in the music or the story. I did try.
OK, I know ... you all hate me, and all the critics from all the papers disagreed too. I just had to get it out of my system. Sorry.