Its 'mind-bending','confusing' reputation is overrated, and stated by movie and book neophytes

Rating: 5/10 (10 July 2002)

I waited until the DVD came out. It was alright. Don't understand the enormous reputation is amassed as being tricky, and how people were having discussions about what really happened. They explain it in the end. Flat out. Mid way, after the accident after he emerges, Cruz stays with his friend, he cant get over it, he'd rather die, and he decides to go into cryogenic dream sleep, but the computer system controlling his cryogenic dreams f**ks up, and the second half of the movie is a convoluted nightmare. What the hell is so confusing when you are done seeing the movie? Who are these people confused? Stoners? Simpletons? I then listened to the DVD commentary. Crowe says it plays straight. the second half was a dream, he wakes up in the end 150 years in the future. It is another actress's voice that tells him to open his eyes. Some random nurse awakening him.
Yes offense meant. This is not at all in league of Usual Suspects, or anything. I am not trashing it, but it has no meaning. Its just a story that doesnt explain itself until the end. It doesn't discuss the merits / drawbacks of lucid dreaming vs living in reality. That would be a 'deep movie'. Think Blade Runner - what happens to someone who falls in love with something he is supposed to kill on site, what happens to someone when they realize they are not what they thought they were, etc etc.

It's a 5-7 star movie, anyone voting higher needs to see more movies.