However, some directors make films that you can tell are refusing to make it easy for the viewer to understand the entire plot.
The main story for his installment basically sees a private investigator searching for his ex-girlfriend who has gone missing with a rich real estate developer.
However, it seems whilst the detective is searching for her, he is became involved in a number of other mysteries.
The film seems to dip in and out through the many sub-plots and focuses more on the characters and mood. With occasional bursts of brilliance, Anderson for the most part has dropped the ball for me.
This is a film that I think only his devoted fans will like or defend.
It is frustrating to see Anderson make what sounds like a fairly simple lot, turn into something more of an ultimate labyrinth.
I think it is safe to say that you should not take this film at face value.
I was really struggling to enjoy this and felt quite bored which is something I do not want to do when at the cinema. Also, the duration does not help as it close to two and a half hours.
Despite the novel being supposedly quite dark, this would suit better as a comedy. The style of humor is subtle, but noticeable in a lot of places.
Thankfully the performances is of a high standard. Our main character is wonderfully played by Joaquin Phoenix. While Anderson is meandering away from the story (which was most of the time), Phoenix does hold it together. It is definitely not his best performance, but it looked like a challenging one. You definitely care for his character and there is a real essence of humanity every time you see him.
As his character is on his investigation, he stumbles upon several of our supporting cast.
Josh Brolin plays the detective helping our main character and he is definitely the best of the film. His pretty random on-screen relationship with Phoenix seems wonderfully played out and was the only thing that constantly excited me during the film.
Martin Short's moment on-screen was completely barmy and he gave us an eccentric character that definitely shines when his moment on screen arrives.
The only performance I would mention was Benicio Del Toro, whose performance reminded of Brad Pitt's character in Burn After Reading. I would have liked to have seen more of Del Toro.
It is hard to make any sort of conclusion. It managed to feel both intriguing and frustrating. The plot structure really lets itself down. It will anger many moviegoers and they are likely to find it massively pretentious. But this is definitely not looking for box-office success.
Thankfully, there is a lot of positive parts to the film. The characters are wonderfully mysterious, I love the vintage look the cinematographer gave it with the 35mm effect.
But the overall feeling I got from it, was being mislead and felt bored in far too many segments.
It felt like a lot of Wes Anderson's films. It has its moments but overall I just did not get into it and fully understand it.
The story-telling was tough to follow and I can see the mainstream being disappointed and even angry about it.
I tried to get involved I really did, but I guess it just was not for me.
Some will call it a success. For me, I will put this in the honorable failure category. I will give this a respectable rating, because there is a lot to like and at a high standard. It's a shame the story was a bit all over the place.
Rating: 7/10
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