Never knew I could care so little...

Rating: Null/10 (16 February 1999)

I saw this movie with a good buddy of mine one fine afternoon a few weeks back, and left the theater feeling ripped-off and ticked-off. How this movie could be called "brilliant" is beyond me. Smaller movie company and artsy director DOES NOT equal brilliant. I see that many supporters of the film say that people like myself are too "shallow" to truly "get it". Well, I can't really say what I want to, because that would violate this fine site's guidelines. First off, a movie is supposed to make you care about the main characters. I didn't care about ANY of them. Sean Penn? Nope. John Cusack? Nope. Nick Nolte? Great performance, but no. John Travolta? George Clooney? They were in the movie? Someone died? Great! Less people to not care about. Second, end the stupid movie, already! I thought the danged thing was over after the bunker scene! Guess not! Also, a plot would've been nice. I know it's "artsy" and "brilliant" not to have one, but it kinda helps explain what's happening at a given point. As it was after Saving Private Ryan, the theater was dead quiet after the movie, but this time, it was a "what the...?" kind of quiet. One guy even stood up and said "What the hell was THAT!?!?", and everybody clapped. Now, I'm a junior in college, and I consider myself a pretty smart guy, but I guess it takes a certain type of person to "get" this movie. It's pretty easy to assign a meaning to something after the fact, but not every single piece of art is worthy of the title "genius". Especially not this atrocity.