You never really had a chance, did you?

A true blue American epic, with all the complications and contradictions that entails.

This is quite something. It hits you in the face with its grand scale immediately and never lets up. The score is arresting, it’s gorgeous to look at, and every single main performance is phenomenal. (Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones are the highlights for me, but I loved Brody and Alwyn too)

The front half, which is where most of the humor lies but is sad in its own right, gives way to a much darker, more challenging back half. But the back half is where the film deploys most of its ideas. What does it mean to be caught between generations? What is it like to create something that isn’t *really* your own?

I’ll admit I was left wanting more to chew on when the credits rolled, though. Maybe I need to sit with it longer. It’s just that the end note is the weakest point of the film to me, which sucks because I was totally immersed in it the whole time. I think it just feels too tidy.

Regardless, this was a great watch. Viewing it in a sold out screening in 70mm is an experience I’ll remember forever.