Tragically wasted opportunity

Rating: 5/10 (31 December 2006)

This could have been the best film of the year. The acting, cinematography and production design are all first rate. The film was simply way too long. I think you could have told the same story in 2 hours and 15 minutes without cutting a line of dialogue. That is how meandering the editing is in this story. It is truly a shame because the story is compelling, but by the end you are begging for the end to come like a Russian spy's bullet to the back of your head.
Damon gives a stellar performance, but it seems like the film is DeNiro's personal crusade against the WASP establishment as he seems intent on portraying all of them as either latent homosexuals or just incredibly fey males who seem to want to dress in drag at any social occasion. While Ivy league schools do have this tradition, it seemed like his own personal fetish to continually hammer the point in the characters played by Gambon & Crudup.
I think very few films warrant being over 2 hours ("Schindler's List" and "Lawrence of Arabia" come to mind). Sadly lots of films this year have this affliction ("Babel", "Bobby"). Maybe it's a disease infecting cutting rooms all over Hollywood?
I must it give it 5 for all the technical aspects of film-making, but the story is more like a 3. Could have been an 8 or 9 with a serious re-cut.