All Craft and no Substance

Rating: 6/10 (14 September 2007)

You can imagine that when it came to editing this film that they were scared that might lose for ever a few minutes of fine acting. Yes all these actors can act and they do it very well. They do it in worthy style in hushed voices for about two and half hours. But surely there is more to a good film than fine performances? In an effort to bolster the film they have stolen a central strand from 'The Conversation' (the reconstruction and deciphering of a taped conversation over a period of time) and mixed it with an array of characters who might have stepped from some mirror version of 'The Godfather' featuring families of WASPs and for good measure thrown in the worst part of 'Eyes Wide Shut' - namely the secret society that everyone who is everyone is a member of but of course is so secret no one knows about it. I suspect that if about 50 minutes were taken out of the film and the plot tightened up and if Matt Damon did not look perpetually adolescent then one might finish watching this feeling the experience was worthwhile. As it is some will be fooled by the smoke and mirrors that they have seen a masterpiece and others will have fallen asleep.