Brad Pitt Was Right

Rating: 1/10 (21 October 2006)

If you're impressed by the fact that this film has received a number of high votes on this site, do not be deceived. Just remember - George Bush is president and O.J. Simpson was Not Guilty. Purportedly, this film was booed at the Vienna Film Festival - I'm with the Viennese. Seeing it at the Hamptons Film Festival, where there were a substantial number of walk-outs, my seat-mate, a complete stranger, turned to me at the end and said "I feel like I need a shower." I concur. Its a testament to Brad Pitt's judgement that the dropped out of this project, and he must be thanking his lucky stars. This film is simply an embarrassment.
"The Fountain" has to be one of the most awesome vanity projects ever conceived. One can only imagine that the success of his previous projects has gone to the director's head, and that he is surrounded by yes-men. The film is a hodgepodge of pseudo-science and mysticism. Trees morph into nebulae, monk-like figures in seated-lotus position float away in bubbles, and apparently we're supposed to be impressed by the Deep Inner Meaning of it all . However, behind this here is little plot to speak of, and there is NO character development and NO visible editing . If you cut up the last half-hour of the film and rearranged the pieces randomly it would be indistinguishable from the finished project. (In fact maybe that's how they did it...) If you like having a friend describe to you, in excruciating and exhaustive detail, the step-by-step progression of his latest acid trip, then this is the film for you.
The rating scale on this site can not do this film justice - negative numbers, anyone?