'Cloud Atlas' Reviews

The new movie Cloud Atlas comes out tomorrow. You've probably seen a trailer or two for it during one the last movies you've seen. And you've probably thought "What the heck is this? Tom Hanks is in this? Does not look like a great movie…". At least, that's what I thought when I saw the trailer.

And then Rotten Tomatoes came out with their review of the movie — a 59%. That's considered, by their metric, "rotten". And so I didn't even bother adding it to my Recall list.

But then I saw Roger Ebert's review of the film — one of the most highly regarded film critics of all time. A man who, at least in my experience, has never led me astray when it comes to recommending movies. In the last paragraph of his review, this is what he had to say:

But, oh, what a film this is! And what a demonstration of the magical, dreamlike qualities of the cinema. And what an opportunity for the actors. And what a leap by the directors, who free themselves from the chains of narrative continuity. And then the wisdom of the old man staring into the flames makes perfect sense.

Needless to say, he really, really liked it. Of course, that came with the caveat that you're probably not going to understand at all what is going on between the multiple story lines in the movie. That there is no continuity in the movie. That it is made to intentionally be enigmatic. But that it's okay.

Greatest movie of all time? Certainly not. But it's different, in a good way.

I don't know. I just might go see this now.