Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Cloud Atlas

It probably would have helped to read David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas before seeing the film.  There was so much jumping around among stories, time periods, and characters that I lost track of what was going on.  It didn't help that it was often difficult to understand what Tom Hanks was saying when he was using an accent, beginning with the introduction to the film.  I also found the heavy makeup on Hanks and many of the other characters overpowering.  I found myself pondering things like, "Why did they give Susan Sarandon such a pointy nose?" or "This guy reminds me of Hugh Grant" or "Is this or isn't this Hugo Weaving?"  There were several points in the film that reminded me of the Matrix trilogy.  Ah, I had completely forgotten that the Wachowskis were involved.

All of this aside, I found myself caring about some of the characters and wanting to know their missing back stories.  Perhaps I'll tackle the book and see the movie again when it appears on cable and I can put on subtitles. 

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