Holli_Would

While the imagined final days of Maria Callas' life in Paris make for an interesting premise, and while Angelina Jolie does a brilliant job with what she was given by director Pablo Larraín, to take a film star so distinctly European looking to play the part of an opera diva so distinctly Greek looking is, unfortunately, highly distracting, at times unintentionally comical, and for all intents and purposes, not quite unsuccessful.

My initial reaction to the trailer, on its release, was that this casting choice was a misstep but hoped my impression would change on watching the full film. Sadly, that wasn't the case. The script is mostly one-note.

It's Harry Potter meets The Wizard of Oz.

As a musical, I couldn't bear it, but as an origin story of The Wicked Witch of the West, aka Elphaba, it's sweet, if cliched.

Ariana Grande is funny in her role, in a good way, and Cynthia Erivo is powerful. Audiences are swooning over Jonathan Bailey (he's pretty), but he doesn't do it for me.

I didn't plan on watching this film, but when you get a chance to watch a super-hyped film for free, why not?

It's ultimately not my cup of tea, but it will be a treat for the real fans of the book/stage musical.

This shade of green is not a good look, for anyone.

This screens more like a play than a film, and not even a good play at that.

What was "Forest Gump" director Robert Zemeckis going for? Saccharine sweetness of the Americana life? It ends up being more like gag me with a spoon.

The film/play literally goes back in time to the time of dinosaurs, Native Americans, cowboys, Colonial America, the Gilded Age era, WWII, the '60's, and the present time. Sounds exciting, right? Except it's not. It's dull. It's boring. It's banal. It's everything about life that is uninspired, depressing, and humdrum. It's a waste of time.

And the AI used to age down Tom Hanks and Robin Wright is...AI-obvious.

I hate it HERE.