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Movie Review: "Cloud Atlas" (3 Stars)

HOLLYWOOD JESUS
By Elisabeth Leitch
Ask Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and even the publisher of the award winning novel what "Cloud Atlas" is about, and you'll probably have no better idea than before. Just Google the title or read the jacket description, and you'll know what I mean. Basically, "Cloud Atlas" jumps back and forth between six different stories, they all take place in different time periods, and they are all connected. The question that most of the book's descriptions leave unanswered—what the stories actually about. And one which filmmakers Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski, and Tom Twyker skillfully answer in their seemingly impossible, yet brilliantly executed adaptation of not only each individual story in the book, but the themes that weave them together. [link] ★★★
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Ann Hornaday | Washington Post said…
As a parable of connectedness, liberation and progressive martyrdom (each protagonist grapples with some form of oppression, based on race, sexual orientation, gender, age, genetics or planetary origin), “Cloud Atlas” conveys exhilaratingly humanist values, whether couched in the cinematic vernacular of computer-game kitsch or twee British slapstick.

The question is whether such a vast, complicated piece of literature really needed to be reduced -- however thoughtfully -- into vignettes of Hollywood genre (vignettes, admittedly, that add up to a nearly three-hour sit). At its most on-the-nose, the movie suffers from sanctimony that is probably inevitable when evoking the Eternal Now.

At its best, though, “Cloud Atlas” represents just the kind of nerve and ingenuity that movies so desperately need these days. As a hymn to mutability -- human and cinematic -- “Cloud Atlas” reaches for the high notes and hits them often enough.
Sun Oct 28, 08:54:00 AM EDT
A,O.Scott | NY Times said…
This is by no means the best movie of the year, but it may be the most movie you can get for the price of a single ticket. It blends farce, suspense, science fiction, melodrama and quite a bit more, not into an approximation of Mr. Mitchell’s graceful and virtuosic pastiche, but rather into an unruly grab bag of styles, effects and emotions held together, just barely, by a combination of outlandish daring and humble sincerity. Together the filmmakers try so hard to give you everything — the secrets of the universe and the human heart; action, laughs and romance; tragedy and mystery — that you may wind up feeling both grateful and disappointed.
Sun Oct 28, 08:56:00 AM EDT
Roger Ebert | Chicago Sun-Times said…
Surely this is one of the most ambitious films ever made. Even as I was watching "Cloud Atlas" the first time, I knew I would need to see it again. Now that I've seen it the second time, I know I'd like to see it a third time — but I no longer believe repeated viewings will solve anything. To borrow Churchill's description of Russia, "it is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." It fascinates in the moment. It's getting from one moment to the next that is tricky.
Sun Oct 28, 08:59:00 AM EDT
Gregory A. Disney said…
Anyone who this complained that Hollywood lacks imagination, ambition and originality had better take a look at "Cloud Atlas."
The new film from spans centuries and continents, and runs back and forth throughout the film telling six separate stories and casts a dozen actors in three or more roles apiece. It is an ambitious and astonishing journey that may walk away with the majority of awards at the next Oscar ceremony. It's not perfect but it is one of the few movies you will want to see over and over again. I loved it.
Sun Oct 28, 09:46:00 AM EDT
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