Let's stop at the very beginning... a very good place to stop....

Rating: 1/10 (8 September 2007)

After the breathtaking opening shots of the Alps, there's really nothing to like about this terrifyingly glib and overly jubilant movie musical about the struggle for freedom and love in Nazi Austria. Julie Andrews at least puts some effort into her character, but it doesn't work very well when she comes across as the one gold piece in the barrel full of tarnished pennies. Christopher Plummer is great at being domineering... but he's also great at taking in every scene for himself. And the children are just obnoxious. Every single one of them. Not to mention some of Rodgers and Hammerstein's most dismal songs, unimpressively choreographed dance scenes, and a snobby Baroness who finds a way to bring the movie down even further. I liked this only a few years ago. Oh, how naive I was then! Now, I realize that it is the pampered child of R&H, while its more intelligent siblings are constantly berated in its shadow. I suppose it's all of those things (especially the way it overshadows its superiors) that make our hearts cursed with "The Sound of Music."