SPOILERS
I think this movie is pretty good but falls just short of being great.
The acting is phenomenal. Brad Pitt performs as well as he always does, and the supporting actors really establish some strong characters. Anthony Hopkins is great as the strong-willed father figure. Aidan Quinn really matches Brad Pitt in this movie as Alfred in my opinion, and is easily almost the star of this film. Henry Thomas does well as the naive younger brother for his short time in the film and really plays it well, making you believe that he is the sweet younger brother that they protect. Susannah is a fine character as well.
My problems with this movie stem from the writing and the pacing, never the acting. This movie has some very well written moments but can seem to struggle particularly in the middle section to get between them. At other times it can almost seem a little too busy and trying to paint certain pictures in too short of a time. Certainly some of this stems from bing an adaptation of a novella and never being able to flesh out all the details in the same way a book can, understandably. Susannah's character I feel had a very strong and filled out first half of the film, but loses all her momentum and weight by lack of much focus in the second half.
If the writing and pacing was always on the same level as the acting, this would easily be a 9. For me it is a 7 due to the pacing lagging at times and writing. I think it is definitely worth a watch, although I am not sure how often one would revisit this film.
I think this movie is pretty good but falls just short of being great.
The acting is phenomenal. Brad Pitt performs as well as he always does, and the supporting actors really establish some strong characters. Anthony Hopkins is great as the strong-willed father figure. Aidan Quinn really matches Brad Pitt in this movie as Alfred in my opinion, and is easily almost the star of this film. Henry Thomas does well as the naive younger brother for his short time in the film and really plays it well, making you believe that he is the sweet younger brother that they protect. Susannah is a fine character as well.
My problems with this movie stem from the writing and the pacing, never the acting. This movie has some very well written moments but can seem to struggle particularly in the middle section to get between them. At other times it can almost seem a little too busy and trying to paint certain pictures in too short of a time. Certainly some of this stems from bing an adaptation of a novella and never being able to flesh out all the details in the same way a book can, understandably. Susannah's character I feel had a very strong and filled out first half of the film, but loses all her momentum and weight by lack of much focus in the second half.
If the writing and pacing was always on the same level as the acting, this would easily be a 9. For me it is a 7 due to the pacing lagging at times and writing. I think it is definitely worth a watch, although I am not sure how often one would revisit this film.