Review by rgkarim

LIKES: Acting Musical Moments Musical Covers The Touching Moments Comedy Moments Are Fun Compassion The Messages With Heart Summary: Like a good book to read and reflect on, this film is a simplistic journey through life with a slight twist to explore one's inner self. A journey between the two leads is all about uncovering themselves beneath the layers they built, finding these doors in the middle of nowhere to take them back in time to explore opportunities missed. Within these elements, the audience is subjected to a multitude of life trials to reflect upon and uncover the strength perhaps we had to put aside. It's touching at many moments, the compassion and love (not just romance) that serves to teach us lessons that are becoming lost in this world of hate and greed. These messages have heart, almost like a metaphorical psychologist is guiding the tale, pushing realistic approaches with a spice of movie magic to help add that pizazz. This may sound like a preachy, uplifting, drama worthy of a self-help book, but trust me, there are some other elements to help stir some life into this drier drama. The comedy is witty, fun, and well-timed, with this bizarre situation getting plenty of challenges and pokes that are entertaining. And the musical moments and covers add some energy to the mix, but still have an excellent selection for the scene to capture the full potential. It fashions into a charming piece that feels beautiful, but still approachable to many if given the proper chance.

And bringing much of this together is a limited cast that does what they need to put this odd adventure into a lane people can enjoy. Farrell is charming, witty, and sly in many mannerisms, only to have to change gears into something much more vulnerable and compelling. Robbie does a bit less fluctuating, but the performance she brings is a lovely blend of hurt, defense, beauty, intelligence, and intrigue that makes for a compelling story to pursue. Alone, these elements show some depth, but together, they meld into something stronger, playing off of one another to strengthen into something much more engaging than either tale alone. I loved their dynamic together, and felt that we could have seen even more had the dislikes I had not occurred.

DISLIKES: Needs More Magic There Was More Heart And Stories To Tell A Tad Boring Needed Some More Musical Moments Feels A Bit Unorganized An Ending that Feels A Bit Of A Let Down Summary Where the movie starts to fail is that with all this heart, the journey feels a little too modern and lacking some of the finesse that I like to see in these fantasy concepts. The magical element started to remind me of an Alice and Wonderland twist, but turned out to be diluted into a rather bland approach, a mere GPS-driven set of interludes that mostly felt stagnant. The doors at first made up for these driving moments, but after the first few doors, the magic was lost again; these elements felt somewhat emotional, yet still didn't have the full bite I like in these elements. They sort of toned it down, and I felt there was more to uncover and march through than what we got. This could have involved some harder moments, some wilder transitions, or perhaps more building from those earlier stages to help, but instead, time seemed to have gotten the best of this film, resulting in simpler impasses to overcome. More musical numbers could have added pep, or at least a fun expression of the questions and answers that we know musicals can bring. I also felt that the organization seemed a bit off, a somewhat linear tale that felt like a few of these stops were in the wrong order. It's certainly not the worst, but there was just a sense of some disconnect that I was hoping wasn't going to be the case. Perhaps this could have been averted with a grand climactic finish, something to bring my likes together in that ultimate way to deliver a powerful blow that bestows some lingering emotion. Again, not really the case. The ending fits the characters, it's realistic, and it does the job enough, but in that regard, that lack of Hollywood finesse just makes the journey feel a bit blander than I had hoped, especially given the potential laid by the trailers. This, I think, is what magnifies the slower elements, which end up becoming the complaint of boredom that I've been seeing in reviews.

The VERDICT: A Big, Bold, Beautiful Journey is a journey into the self, full of that splendor that reflection brings with it. Poetry in acting, the life-lessons on this bizarre journey are exemplified by some strong performances between the two, doing their best to evolve characters in their portrayals. With some good comedy, musical pizazz, a good cover soundtrack, and some compassion, these elements serve as some heartfelt guidance to finding oneself. But I feel there was more potential within the doors to make this movie shine. That fantasy element is there, but perhaps it's a little stunted by a time limit, the balance of real and fake, and trying to address a lot of moments while staying original. It's not horrible, where relevance is a strong factor to help resonate with the characters. Without that, though, the movie might feel sluggish, boring, and quite dull, lacking the full magic of the movies that we've become accustomed to. With all that in mind, the movie comes off as a great film to dive into for self-growth, but this might be maximized at home over the theater. Thus, with all this in mind, I give this film: Drama/Fantasy/Romance: 7.0 Movie Overall: 6.0.