I finally saw this a few days ago. Glad I did.
My grade:
B
Angelina's character, Elisa, is playing a passive-agressive character. I think so many are use to her as the main point of action from her turns in
Mr/Mrs.Smith,
Tomb Raider or
Salt that her as the 'damsel' seems "boring".
Johnny Depp is playing, Frank, a man used to the more mundane but romaticizes about action and adventure. This strange woman Elisa has put him in the thick of something and he goes along. Therefore there is a sense of awkardness about his character. He is obviously taken by Elisa but he is trying to be a polite gentleman all at the same time. I think this is what the critics called 'zero chemistry' however I'd have to spoil the movie for you in order to tell you why it seems they played their parts the way they did.
The cinematography made great use of the countryside and Venice. About the only thing I see the critics got right were statements that commented on the camera lingering on Jolie. It did linger at times but as I saw it those were for slight facial expressions of curiosity, admiration or danger.
The pacing is indeed slow I won't argue that but it is moving with purpose which is different than moving slow and going seemingly nowhere. To put it differently I didn't feel the movie drug on for periods without moving the story along.
The movie just got nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Picture. Not that I think it'll win for either of those nods it is indeed a good picture. Not worthy of the scads of bad ink it has received.
For those who care about compiled critics ratings like RottenTomatoes consider this. It's critic score is 20% and its
RTCommunity score is 78%. How about for once considering what 'Joe Public' is saying and try this movie out. That is such a stark contrast. People seem to like it, at least once, maybe not a best picture but an enjoyable one.
