more likely, everyone assumes they understood the story-"line" because, well, yknow, there wasnt much to it.

I didn't understand all of it. I don't think we're meant to. But I definitely got enough of it that I can come to my own conclusions.

Okay, okay -- you're not the one dumbass...

This movie was brilliant... and I did understand it, almost completely, on a level deeper than any other movie has affected me before. Don't presume to understand why a person loves a film by attributing it to an 'incoherent' or 'bizarre' storyline, because maybe it's just incoherent or bizarre to you. I dunno.... maybe you have to be crazy for this movie to make perfect sense, or maybe you just have to be a genius.... I'll take a little of both, thanks.

btw -- this was the first movie I've seen thrice in theaters since Fellowship of the Ring, all of five years ago. I'm thinking I need to take a break from it now, let my soul return to baseline... then watch it again in a year or so and BLASM!!!(the sound of a spiritual orgasm)

I would imagine those that love this movie relate to the story on an emotional level. but that doesn't make the movie brilliant. it has many flaws. the story has flaws. the parallel stories are not executed well. visually it is stunning but that's about it.

Excellent! I'm happy to hear that the movie made perfect sense to you. I'd love to hear your explanation of The Fountain, oh crazy genius. Lay it on us...

Only watched 30 minutes so far, Its not looking good to be honest. absolute shit would be an accurate description thus far.

The more I think about it, the more I realize how ridiculous and unintentionally funny a film this is. The visual splendor does nothing to compensate for a very weak story.

The film, as I see it, has little meaning beyond a patchwork of cliched ideas we've seen played out over and over again in 'new age' circles. Its attempts to combine Judeo-Christian, Eastern, and Mayan mythologies is embarrassingly watered down. I would say that Aronofsky's ineptness in handling the big ideas he wants to discuss creates a sense of uncertainty which viewers might mistake for something deeply meaningful. I think it's like Donnie Darko, another film I've grown to dislike. Neither has much meaning beyond what viewers impose on it, and in both cases, people's explanations tell us more about them and their waste of time than it does about the movie.


C

I quite loved it. It felt a bit too short, and as a result the story was a bit shortchanged, but the visuals were stunning and the theme was just as amazing. And Hugh Jackman, wow. I've thought he was great in everything I've seen him in - even the crap - but this could be his best performance to date. In three roles, he never seems out of place or over his head, and his character forms the emotional core of the film and makes it even more powerful. I think I understood most of the basic plot points, and I felt satisfied instead of confused at the film's end, but I really liked how a lot of it was left open to interpretation. And the visual effects, despite minimizing the use of CGI, are quite beautiful. Every scene of the "bubble ship" is quite lovely to watch. It's flawed, but it attempts to do something quite remarkable, and so it is a flawed masterpiece.

Great, great performances and visual effects, but the rest... WTF?

I just didn't get it. I didn't connect with this film at all. I guess I could sit here and think about the film for hours and hours and attempt to find some significance to this flick, but I shouldn't have to do that.

C-

the more i think about this film the more i hate it. I gave it a B- originally but now its down to a

D+

Stunner

I realized I never reviewed this. For me its nothing more then a half-assed stab at sections of a Stephen Baxter novel. It's looking for deeper meaning and tries to ask a lot of questions but in the end I just felt like re-reading Vacuum Diagrams more then re-watching to see if I'd missed something.

Heh, I guess I should have expected this considering that you gave it an A+ and I'm usually on the opposite end, but this was seriously one of my most anticipated films of the fall.

The only problem I really have with your review (as it is SO not a movie for everybody) is the "but I shouldn't have to do that" part. That's one of the great things about movies, man. Maybe you'll appreciate it more as you get older (thinking about movies for hours and hours, not necessarily The Fountain).

i'm 20 and thought the film was stupid. it wasn't important or psychological study like it thought it was. it was boring, the performances were decent, but overall it was just a damn boring film.

I think thinking about its meaning for hours is the point of The Fountain, though I was a bit disappointed with the film personally. The ending with the garden sprouting and religious space tom explosion went too far, there's deep meaning and then there's scenes like that which just leave you scratching your head.

Somebody else read some Stephen Baxter to verify my opinion that large sections of this are a bad rip-off.

The more I've thought about this movie actually, the less I've liked it... I can maybe understand what the director was going after, but the execution just didn't work, and it just descended into babble trying way too hard to be deep and cult appealing. Mulholland Drive, Taxi Driver, Vertigo, those are deep and masterful films... The Fountain, ehh.

I'm 19 and I thought the film was great. The ending actually reminded me of 2001 quite a bit. So out there that you have to pause and reflect on it. It's not a movie you can just leave behind after watching it.

This is a stupid movie. The end. Now let us as a civilization please move on.

It sucked and it was boring...maybe i didnt get but i dont care. It just was so unninteresting to me...

D+

It wasn't what I thought it was going to be, and also, while it was gorgeous, I didn't understand the stuff in the "future"

Wasn't horrible, though.

**1/2

fuck mangs, you dont have to think about the movie for a minute... it's a love story. that's it.

It had its lovely moments, but I was left unmoved.

I didn't think the relationship penetrated on any real emotional level. The present-day scenes, which I think anchor the film (whether you think the actual relationship takes place here or not), should develop their love, but they fail to provide any sort of insight. The visuals carry the film, but without much emotional backing, they're really just there for show.

The forced writing in the present-day scenes didn't help things either.

I thought Hugh Jackman overdid it for the most part. Weisz was passable, but a bit boring, surprisingly.

Disappointing.

C+