very human, not for everyone

i think the box is somewhat misleading. the font, the quirky picture of a little boy with a camera, the colors, the review on the front that calls the movie among other things "...funny...". the back text refers to everything suddenly going wrong and accompanies that with a young smiling girl and another quirky of the boy with his father at mcdonalds. despite ample warning of how "human" the film is i was still under the impression that it had humor to it. and that it was about a little boy. the film itself has little humor and though its mostly provided by the little boy, and he provides pivotal moments in the film, he is barely in the film at all.

the long haul of the movie, which sits at 3 hours long, is about a number of family members. it is about their everyday life. while some dramatic things happen, its not truly about them. a wedding, a baby, a funeral, a stroke/coma, relationships started lost, business deals and falterings, all lend to the portrait of the family but nothing is singled out necessarily. that is what makes the film great but also very difficult for normal audiences.

its a beautiful film; the visuals great, the actors perfect, the individual stories compelling, on and on. it all comes together as a perfectly believable drama of everyday life with some slightly dramatic and chance moments. but if you think a movie should be plot driven, you're going to find this long and taxing to endure. however if you're open to letting story build its meaning, you'll find in it what it all is there for. i won't give away what its about, there is not much need to. if i had to sit down and write out the plot and what it ultimately leads to, it'd be a long intricate story. thats the movies job and i'll let it be.

i'm positive this movie will not appeal to everyone. its long, its loose, its everyday, and you may not find that the meaning of it is worth the time spent with it. however there are those, myself included, that will enjoy the strong characters that are created. as another review on the box suggested, i didn't want it to be over when it was. not because it wasn't a clear ended, i simply wanted to know more about these people; i cared about them. thats a damn good job for a story to accomplish.

(8/10)...i'd give it better personally, but recognize that it is very much an acquired taste.

8/10