Okay, first thing, this movie is Long (yes, the capital L was intentional), but you don't feel it. It holds you in place from the opening scene to the climax, & that is the least that can be said about it.
This is one of the movies that makes such beautiful use of the music that the songs are just not there, playing in the background, but they are part of the story. The soundtrack is by Aimee Mann & there are three beautiful songs, "One" that opens the movie, "Save Me" that ends it & "Wise Up" somewhere in between, which has all the characters singing the verses that just fit in with their varied yet very different lives. Its a very dramatic moment, almost comical, yet its so heart wrenching that it can make most people reach out for the tissue box.
What struck me most about this movie, is the sense of tension that prevails throughout. You sit there, anticipating, waiting for something to happen, but it doesn't, it just goes on as usual. And just when you think its all over, that's when it happens, something that you least expected. It rains. Frogs, millions of them just drop down from the sky, yet nobody seems to notice it much or brood much over it. Their own lives are probably more complicated than it all. Nothing seems weird anymore with the kind of lives ordinary people live.
It boasts brilliant acting by every single actor, but Tom Cruise does an outstanding job, probably his best ever as the flamboyant, chauvinistic yet deeply wounded self-help guru Frank Mackey. Julianne Moore is also brilliant as always.
This film is an experience, many will find it unreasonable, overtly dramatic, yet it is thoughtful & artistic, a beautiful movie in every sense of the term.
