Review of The Maus

This movie looks beautiful, the forest is breathtaking, the actors are appealing, the plot is kind of "Deliverance" with a bit of magical realism. But the dialog and pacing are terrible. There must be 20 minutes worth of a character walking, shot from behind in medium close up. Just walking! And I suppose, thinking, but how would we know. There's a lot of characters staring at each other for a long time, saying nothing. There is some interaction and some action (warning: a couple of scenes are brutal) but there's so much non-action. Much of the dialog is stilted, it's true none of the characters are native English speakers but I found myself saying "people don't talk like that" lots of times.

The film should end a few minutes before it tries a twist ending which makes little sense. I wonder if it was an afterthought. Should have been a no-thought. Bottom line: bring a crossword puzzle, or avoid altogether.