The Discovery

Don't know why this is getting some bad reviews. This was actually pretty darn good.

This movie has an interesting take on consciousness and death that is worth the time to watch. Perhaps people are not liking the existential weirdness and the questions it brings up but I enjoyed myself on this one.

I think we all need to ponder consciousness and reality a little more.

What a waste. The concept and overall story were fantastic. Unfortunately, that is where Netflix is showing its limits with Originals and the sub-par, lazy writing and directing that is barely above novice level. Even the great cast giving their best are unable to save it. This could have been an amazing, smart and original movie but ends up falling flat.

I wasn't sure about seeing this film because of the rating, but the concept was interesting and being a fan of Rooney Mara's work I decided to give it a shot. And I am glad I did.

The opening scene is very well done because it grabs your attention from the first second. But what comes after is what bothered most of the viewers who felt disappointed - the personal story line between Jason Siegel's and Rooney Mara's characters becoming the center of attention instead of the concept of an afterlife and how it works.

Personally, while watching the movie, I did feel a little bit deceived, because "the discovery" took a back seat, BUT after finishing the movie it all made sense. I think the film was very well structured and managed to get across it's idea and explanation of how afterlife works very well to the audience, without having to talk about it and explain it in every scene as if the viewers are little children. I do not agree with some statements that the concept of "the discovery" was not well done, finished or explained well. Last 10 min. do contain a lot of information and the viewer should pay attention.

The acting was very good, however overall I must agree that it is not the most exciting film. What I mean is that it won't be in your "most memorable or favorite"movie list. It's a good watch on lazy night though. Give it a go.

They bait you into thinking that this will provide for some interesting ideas for you to reflect on, but nope.

The main problem is that the story doesn't hold. I mean, the message of the movie is good and inspiring, but the story is just a mess that is full of holes.

They just took one good old movie and re-told it slightly adjusting the focus. I won't spoil it for you so check this out if you're interested anyways.

But be warned, this movie is slow and packs quite a run time. What's more interesting is that they actually stretch it out intentionally, it has a lot of unnecessary scenes they should've cut and it wouldn't hurt the movie. Probably they had a run time to meet or something.

The dialogue is often forced, some scenes are written so badly they are barely believable. Also, the lead seriously underperforms, his acting is unconvincing and he is unable to deliver emotional moments (you'll see).

If you're a hardcore sci-fi fan, the ending will disappoint you (mostly because of how random it is). But you will know long before that the movie is going nowhere.

Just reading the synopsis raised my expectations, which is perhaps why the movie fell flat for me. Instead of an exploration of an intriguing idea, the film really became a declaration of faith in what is essentially a notion that cannot be proven and thus cannot really be known. When assertions are made about the mysteries of consciousness, you either believe them or you do not.

I would have given this a higher rating just for tackling such a difficult topic but the direction, acting and even cinematography never really came together. There were plenty of big, proven names who lent their prestige to this project and yet surprisingly none of the people involved seemed willing to commit. It was like they all knew the outcome would stink but no one wanted to sully their reputations by doing a bad job.

It is worth a watch if you are fans of some of the actors as I am. The arc of the plot is not unsatisfying even though it is in many instances frustrating. A film perhaps to while away the time and put yourself in a more contemplative mood.