Why all the praise?

Rating: 4/10 (1 September 2002)

I've been wondering why this movie has been getting such high acclaim. First of all it lacks one of the most fundamental aspects of a movie; pace. It takes half of the movie for it to get past boring talk and uneventful scenes.
Once the movie does get going, it has a few suspenseful scenes that make you anticipate an amazing ending, but leaves you at the edge of your seat wondering what happened to the rest of the film.
The only good aspect of this movie is the great acting from Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix. The film could have been so much more. I give it a 4 out of 10.