Some good visuals - but ponderous failure of a movie

Rating: 5/10 (16 October 1999)

I read this book. Along with The Bonfire of the Vanities, this is one of least successful film adaptations I can think of. The book's strength was the development of many characters - their inner fears, weaknesses, quirks & complexities as they were forced through the cauldron of this experience.
Terrence Malick seems to have tried to do too much with the book and lost his way. Character development and plot are totally lost. The movie wanders between disjointed voice over thoughts of various characters , largely a philosophical meditation, which provides some great visuals, but doesn't sustain a 170 minute movie. For me, there's a about 1/2 hour of footage here that is pretty cool to see on a big screen, but it's a failure as a movie.
I recently saw a re-release of Badlands at a revival theater. I really like that movie. Malick's style, blending in a lot of visuals of character's physical environment, setting atmosphere, seems better suited to a film where there are only two characters and a more basic plot.