My thought process going into this was: "It's got mixed reviews, but at least it will have cool cars and clothes and plenty of action, so how bad can it be?"
I ended up walking out 45 minutes before the end, not because it was bad, but because I just did not care what happened next. The film is empty; utterly soulless. It's like watching over somebody's shoulder while they play a computer game (especially in the CGI-heavy car- chase scene, but in the CGI-heavy rest of the film too.)
The acting is terrible. The main character has one single facial expression, and that's it. The dialogue is awful. The only good lines in the movie are lifted from "Miller's Crossing" and the only actor who seems to have any emotions at all is Messina.
Scene follows scene, but there's no reason to care. Things happen, but completely at random, as though the screenwriter is playing a dadaist game with cut-up Boardwalk Empire scripts. Characters are introduced, and then blown off the screen a couple of scenes later, never to be seen again.
Historical accuracy does not seem to be a priority, but the filmmakers don't seem to be going for all-out historical inaccuracy (in the style of Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby) either; they just seem to be incompetent. Salsa dancing in the 1920s? Really? 1970s pantsuits? I suppose I can't blame them for not caring.
I don't care either. I don't care if you see this film or not. I just wanted to warn you how utterly meaningless it is. To paraphrase Dr. Narcisse (a memorable gangster character with cool dialogue played by a great actor): Go and see it. Or don't. Your choice.
I ended up walking out 45 minutes before the end, not because it was bad, but because I just did not care what happened next. The film is empty; utterly soulless. It's like watching over somebody's shoulder while they play a computer game (especially in the CGI-heavy car- chase scene, but in the CGI-heavy rest of the film too.)
The acting is terrible. The main character has one single facial expression, and that's it. The dialogue is awful. The only good lines in the movie are lifted from "Miller's Crossing" and the only actor who seems to have any emotions at all is Messina.
Scene follows scene, but there's no reason to care. Things happen, but completely at random, as though the screenwriter is playing a dadaist game with cut-up Boardwalk Empire scripts. Characters are introduced, and then blown off the screen a couple of scenes later, never to be seen again.
Historical accuracy does not seem to be a priority, but the filmmakers don't seem to be going for all-out historical inaccuracy (in the style of Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby) either; they just seem to be incompetent. Salsa dancing in the 1920s? Really? 1970s pantsuits? I suppose I can't blame them for not caring.
I don't care either. I don't care if you see this film or not. I just wanted to warn you how utterly meaningless it is. To paraphrase Dr. Narcisse (a memorable gangster character with cool dialogue played by a great actor): Go and see it. Or don't. Your choice.