Slow, Boring and Pretentious

Rating: 3/10 (5 February 2006)

The New World received good reviews from several well known critics and the trailers seemed intriguing. Unfortunately this was the least enjoyable film I've seen in a long time. I felt I had a duty to warn the public about this slow, boring, incoherent and dimwitted work of genius.
In 1607, three small English ships arrive in what became Jamestown. Life is hard and John Smith (Colin Farrell) befriends the local Indians, especially the chief's daughter. After a while, Smith is given another assignment by the King of England and he disappears from the movie. John Rolfe (Chritian Bale) arrives and becomes friendly with Pocohantas. They build a house together and become farmers. At the request of the King, they leave America and spend time in England. while this is going on the English are exploiting the Indians and treating them badly.
This is a well known story, but the director managed to construct a movie with little plot or dialog. The actors mostly mumble at each other. The lack of dialog makes it difficult to understand the characters or what motivates them. Occasionally the actors would reveal their inner thoughts with pretentious and unintelligible monologues. The pace is glacial and has random shots of trees, fields and water.
Characters are inserted into the story with no introduction. Who was John Smith and why did the King of England regard him so highly. Why did his fellow colonists treat him so badly. We are told Smith was a professional soldier but he didn't seem to be a man with any natural authority, charisma or leadership qualities. Farrell looked confused and depressed, perhaps he was thinking about his recent career choices. His accent was a strange mixture of Irish and English west country.
The Christian Bale character was well connected and the house he occupies with Pocohantas in England is enormous. So it wasn't clear why Bale and Rebecca wanted to return "home" to Virginia and live in a shack in a swamp. Also, why was Pocahontas called Rebecca? There was little chemistry between any of the romantic leads so it was difficult to believe in the love stories.
On the positive side, the cinematography was beautiful and the costumes looked realistic. James Horner's classical score was excellent. The movie seemed like the work of an amateur with a budget which seemed cobbled together in the editing room. Judging from the other reviews I probably didn't get it.