MarylandMD

There are a few fun moments, and Ryan Gosling is charming, but otherwise this overlong mess of a film is a waste of time. It seems that the pitch for the picture went like this: “Think of “Arrival,” “Interstellar,” and “The Martian” all together with Ryan Gosling as the star—It’s a sure fire hit!” And, yes, the studio heads are all patting themselves on the back because they manufactured a profitable movie, but, really what you have here is empty, forgettable fluff. If you don’t mind a film featuring “science” that has nothing to do with real world science, stilted scenes, cardboard characters in the supporting cast, overused tropes (Oh, nooooo!! The switch is just… ouuuuut… of… reeeeeeaaaaaaaaach….!) to create drama, then this is the flick for you. When the movie ended, I was wishing I had done something else that night.

An intense roller coaster ride (almost literally at one point) that had me riveted throughout. An amazing mix of drama, pathos, humor, joy, and action. Will everyone love it? Given the political and social issues that drive much of the action, there will undoubtedly be many who are put off by the film. If you firmly believe the myths that refugees to the US are folks just looking for a handout and bring only crime and disease into the country, then you should just stick with your Lee Greenwood tunes and stay home, as the movie will be triggering for you. Is it on the longer side? Yes, but it felt much shorter than the 2:42 running time. It is a complex film with multiple key characters, and time is not wasted in the development of the story.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]