Self-indulgent vanity project

Rating: Null/10 (15 June 1999)

I have no quibbles about the cinematography in this film--certainly one of the most beautiful, striking collection of images I have ever seen in a theater. Unfortunately, this art gallery tries to be a movie, and the audience is left to puzzle over "profound" (I can't emphasize those quotes enough) thoughts of grunts who probably wanted nothing more than to go home. But no, we get tedious voice overs where uneducated soldiers think things like "I will wait for you across the dark waters, yadda, yadda, yadda, etc., etc." There is nothing to "understand" or "get" about this film. The characters are flat, the story rambles and rambles and rambles and rambles and yet manages to go nowhere for the last hour, the cameos are distracting and unnecessary, but hey, the cinematography was great. Even still, Malick's shoddy direction managed to make the few action sequences dull and uninvolving.