Considering the atrocious gentrification places like Marfa are currently suffering, there was a lot of potential in this movie's briefly introduced idea of hipsters buying out a dying Texas town. Somewhere along the line, most of that story was seemingly cut and instead we got over an hour of mostly nameless characters dying horrific deaths. At least there were some fantastic kills.
Oh and Sally was there...I guess as an insult to all the fans? I don't know and neither did this movie.
I want to live in a world where movies this uncynical and lovely are the norm. It couldn't fix everything but surely it wouldn't hurt to surround ourselves with escapism that helps us to imagine a kinder world. What an absolute joy. 5 stars, no complaints.
One of the biggest condemnations of modern American Christianity is the fact that this film didn't become the cultural touchstone that "Passion of the Christ" became. Convicting, captivating, and - because it's Malick - contemplative. A masterpiece.
Unsurprisingly dark but surprisingly "human" - it was fun watching GDT explore his talents in such a realistic setting. Incredible design throughout - costumes, sets, my goodness this movie is sumptuous. Bradley Cooper was fantastic, even when he bordered on a bit broad. Hell of an ending.
