Everything Everywhere All at Once

This film almost unanimously received praise from both critics and audience alike. People even exaggeratedly rank it as one of the greatest films ever or the best they've ever seen. Going into this movie, my expectations were really high And I really wanted to be part of the majority who loves this movie. But unfortunately the opposite happened and I didnt like it. While I appreciate that this movie was made on a relatively small budget and managed to get some things right as it had so much potential with its strong female lead, philosophical component and some good action to move it along. But it fell really short. It is long and meandering. Visually confusing, thematically unoriginal. The first half was repetitive, boring and also quite silly. Half of the time I don't know what are they fighting for or what the heck is going on. And what was supposed to be the multiverse just felt like the characters were wearing silly different costumes. It is not until the last act that things of relevance happened. The performance from the cast was great though.

Ok, the movie contains a lot, a lot. It contains impressive action, drama, SF, humor as well as numerous incredible scenes and shots. I give him a big plus for his incredible originality and idea. However, for me personally, the film was a little too much, to put it that way. In the context of the Oscars, it's also incredible to me that the film picked up so many important awards. Is this the best movie of the year?! Reading numerous reviews and comments, it's clear to me that I'm in the minority and that's why I'm surprised by all the hype surrounding the film. For some, this is even one of the best films ever made. Due to these expectations, I have to admit that the film did not impress me at all. It's not a problem for me to admit that it's up to me and that I can't understand the magnitude of the film, which will obviously be a cult classic tomorrow. But I am surprised that such a strange film won over so many people.

I FINALLY sat down to finish watching this movie. I had started it when it first came out to stream and turned it off about 20 minutes in, I found it so boring.

But, last night I decided to sit down and finish watching it to see if it lived up to all of the hype and Oscar accolades...to me, it didn't.

Don't get me wrong, I do feel Mechelle Yeoh did a great job with this very complicated role, so perhaps she deserved it...but the rest of them, ehhhhhh maybe, maybe not so much.

This movie TOTALLY lost my husband, he just couldn't keep up with the different story-lines in different dimensions, and the fast-pace of jumping around from dimension to dimension often game me the "what in the world is going on" feeling. I get it....everything all at once, but sometimes way too much.

This movie, for me, didn't make sense at all until the last 20 minutes or so when, at that point finally, the writers basically spoon-fed the viewer the meaning of the movie, because (in my own personal opinion) even they knew people wouldn't get it on their own.

As for Jamie Lee Curtis, I also think she deserved her Oscar for this one. Hers was also a pretty complicated character in oh so many ways and a huge departure from many roles she has played.

So was this an Oscar worthy movie....eeeehhhh, not so much. Were there good performances? Yes. Was this an original movie? Yes, I can appreciate that too.

Was it over-hyped? Most definitely.

Starting with what I did enjoy about this movie.

1. The setting of this movie was indeed a more accurate representation of an Asian American household. The family dynamics sounds about right. I like that Asians are getting more spotlight.

2. The concept/theme of this movie is rather novel and therefore interesting. Although I think it could have been played out much more sophisticatedly.

3. The parent-child relationship is well portrayed. The perceived lack of validation from parents felt by the child, the poorly communicated love of the parent, the process of gaining awareness and emotional growth for both the parent and child is inspiring.

Things I didn't like 1. It is a very bizarre movie, you could even say chaotic. It's as if they tried to combine every single meaningless detail together and gave up filtering out what's actually worth or necessary to the main plot. Tried too hard to make it funny/original/emotional/relatable that it ends up being neither of those things very well.

2. The movie is also unnecessarily long.

Those two points combined makes this movie just a long, confusing, and sometimes boring mess. The novelty makes it watchable/bearable, but to me, it's nothing more than that.

There's a point here where we are swept up in sensory overload, where so much stuff is thrown at us that we tune it out. I reached a point about two-thirds through this where I couldn't get my mind back in it. Have we reached a point where we have no expectations of a conclusion. When one has someone playing multiple characters in multiple settings, there needs to be something tying it together. The protagonist needs to be someone we identify with who has wishes and hopes that lead us on. She seemed as confused as the storyteller and the husband. I guess I'll read some more about this film and hope with guidance to try to figure it out a bit. Obviously, all these universes and all this actions (way too much battling in my estimation) are leading somewhere. I thought the film had ended about six times. I don't mind being brought back in, but I wish I understood where we just landed. Yes, there is a lot going on and it is violently splashed on the screen. But I ended up exhausted and unsatisfied.