Did we see the same movie?

Rating: 5/10 (25 August 2007)

The abysmal cinematography spoiled what should have been a 10 star movie for our entire group. We were unanimously annoyed with the latest fad of jerky photography, zooming in and out on the characters and poorly framed scenes. As irritating as it is on the small screen in TV shows such as '24', that's nothing compared to the nausea it evokes when magnified for the movie theater. Does a typical audience really want to be continually reminded that this is just a movie? How many of the viewers were actually able to appreciate the amazing stunts? What a waste!
Despite the inclination to leave 5 minutes into the movie, we stuck it out and yes, the acting and story line were amazing. I'm not sure we could sit through it again, particularly on the big screen, without a heavy dose of Dramamine, but Matt Damon, Julia Stiles and Joan Allen were worth seeing it at least once. We might have liked David Strathairn as well, if most of his scenes hadn't made us feel like we were watching '24' reruns.
Our vote would be 10 for the writing and acting, and 0 for the directing and cinematography. For the record, jumping on the latest fad is not how classics are made.