I see a lot of reviews where people are saying they only made it twenty minutes through the film before shutting it off. Personally I think it isn't fair to rate a film if you haven't sat through the entire thing, because some movies can start on the wrong foot and wind up being decent or even good by the end.
On the other hand, I can see how visually the editing would be too jarring for a lot of people to sit through. It was very disjointed and highly repetitive, making the film feel much longer than it's average running time allowed. The plot most definitely could've been flushed out better and made more exciting if half the film wasn't, as people mentioned, the lead actor mostly running and tripping over himself over and over again.
That being said, I did sit through all of it and understood the overarching plot. If you can make it through, the ending does sort of put you in a sort of Inception mindset where you're left wondering what was actually real and what was dream. It's confusing at best though and misses its mark, lacking the impact that Inception had mostly because, well, there just wasn't enough information about the leading woman to get you there. You're sort of just left going, "Wait...so was she the one the entire time or...? I don't get it."
I do want to give Justin Bartha kudos though. Out of all the characters he was the one I was honestly most sympathetic towards and the one who made the most sense to me. And he had actual character growth. They sort of left his whole fate very open ended though...if he even existed in the first place since we were left pondering what was real and what wasn't. That left me more than a little disappointed, the way his arc just sort of cut off like he didn't matter when he was the most interesting one.
So yeah, four stars because Justin Bartha was great, and some of the graphics were kind of cool to look at. But negatives on overly choppy editing, execution of the plot, and character development for everyone else. It was a unique idea but somehow became dull and repetitive and just long onscreen. And just plain hard on the eyes to watch.
On the other hand, I can see how visually the editing would be too jarring for a lot of people to sit through. It was very disjointed and highly repetitive, making the film feel much longer than it's average running time allowed. The plot most definitely could've been flushed out better and made more exciting if half the film wasn't, as people mentioned, the lead actor mostly running and tripping over himself over and over again.
That being said, I did sit through all of it and understood the overarching plot. If you can make it through, the ending does sort of put you in a sort of Inception mindset where you're left wondering what was actually real and what was dream. It's confusing at best though and misses its mark, lacking the impact that Inception had mostly because, well, there just wasn't enough information about the leading woman to get you there. You're sort of just left going, "Wait...so was she the one the entire time or...? I don't get it."
I do want to give Justin Bartha kudos though. Out of all the characters he was the one I was honestly most sympathetic towards and the one who made the most sense to me. And he had actual character growth. They sort of left his whole fate very open ended though...if he even existed in the first place since we were left pondering what was real and what wasn't. That left me more than a little disappointed, the way his arc just sort of cut off like he didn't matter when he was the most interesting one.
So yeah, four stars because Justin Bartha was great, and some of the graphics were kind of cool to look at. But negatives on overly choppy editing, execution of the plot, and character development for everyone else. It was a unique idea but somehow became dull and repetitive and just long onscreen. And just plain hard on the eyes to watch.