8/10
Enlightenment through realism
9 February 2013
There are so many hogwash BS films coming out of Hollywood these days tending to people's needs for emotional feel-good spiritual uplifting, in the forms of Terrence Mallick and pseudo intellectualism, god talk, gazing at swirling milk in a cup of coffee as an allusion to the universe. So much bunk.

But this film succeeds where all pseudo-intellectual films fail. In partaking of the multiples beauties of nature and quality of life, in valuing the ecosystems that surround us, that nourish us, that define us. This film is quite beautifully shot, macro cinematography does not make it to the big screen every day and is a real treat. My taste buds and salivary glands were excited during the entire film.

The one failure of the film is having Bill Pullman as a lead character. He fails in two respects. First he admits to suffering from anosmia, a lack of sense of smell. Smell is a major factor in our ability to taste food, and any time he is seen munching into some lovely fruit, he seems to be faking it. Which brings me to his second failure: faking it is a Hollywood leitmotiv, and all his time on screen seemed to just be a Hollywood wannabe real person, he was painful to watch.

Notwithstanding his long screen time, the gorgeous camera work and content and informativeness make this well worth the watch.
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