Tooooooooo Looooooooooong

Rating: Null/10 (24 January 2004)

Let's get something straight, I've got nothing against long films, but the source material must justify the the length of the film.
Hitchcock, Spielberg, Kubrick and now even Jackson; they all respect(or respected) the above principle. They all managed to get the pacing just right, but Mr Minghella commits the same crime over and over again. Yes, the acting is great. Yes, the production values are high. Yes, the cinematography is wonderful, but there lies the problem. Every shot lingers for longer than absolutely neccessary as if to say, "look people, isn't the cinematography lovely?". Well, it is, but the net result of this is that we get a film that has all the pace of a dead snail. His movies always feel like an 9 minute extended mix of a 3 minute pop song.
Lets review the running times of his movies: English Patient : 160 minutes Cold Mountain : 155 minutes Talented Mr Ripley : 139 minutes All these movies could benefit by having around 20 minutes removing from them, and I guarantee, you would not be able to put your finger on what, if anything was missing, except for that pain you get in your rear end when you get up at the end of the movie and leave the cinema(if you managed to stay awake, that is). Now, I challenge you Mr Minghella, to make a movie with a running time of under 120 minutes. Lets pick the pace up a little, please?