Cloud Atlas

Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Sturgess, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, Susan Sarandon, Hugo Weaving, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, Keith David, James D'Arcy
Directed by: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction
2012

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: Many stories and lives intersect over hundreds of different years.

Review:

Tim: When I first saw the trailer for Cloud Atlas, I was blown away. It looked like this massive epic, on a scale we haven't seen before. Different lives intersecting throughout hundreds of years, each connected to the others in seen and unseen ways. The film itself lived up to its potential- it's a beautiful, incredible, unforgettable film, and one of the best movies of 2012. I'm a bit disappointed that this film didn't connect with audiences (similar to Speed Racer, another surprisingly brilliant Wachowski film that didn't do well at the box office). This movie is amazing.

After watching this movie for the first time in theaters, my wife and I just sat there as the credits rolled. We never made an attempt to get up, to talk to each other, to do all the normal things people do when a movie concludes. No, after seeing this 172 minute film, I think we both needed a minute to just process what we'd seen. The film takes some serious thought- it requires you to think about what it's presenting, how you feel about that, and it even encourages you to reexamine your own beliefs (are our lives really "not our own"?, are we truly all interconnected?). This movie impacted me in ways few films do.

The cast here is stunning. Each actor was carefully selected, and plays multiple roles. You have a cast playing many different characters each, oftentimes of different ethnicities or genders, for different directors, in very different time periods, all in one film. It's an incredible achievement. Tom Hanks headlines the film, and he does terrific work. I was mesmerized by his performance. He plays a murderous doctor, a sleazy hotel manager, a thug, a scientist with a conscience, an actor, and a goat herder in a post-apocalyptic world. It required an incredible amount of range, and he pulls it off beautifully. He was the perfect choice to headline this film, and I loved his various performances. The same could be said for the rest of the cast. Halle Berry does a very good job throughout, including a few smaller scenes where she's completely unrecognizable (stay through the credits to have your mind blown by seeing all the characters each of the principle cast members played). She worked well with Hanks and the rest of the cast. Jim Sturgess gave very impressive performances as well. I'm really starting to think he might be a special talent. Jim Broadbent was pretty good, but he was involved in a few of the weaker story lines. Hugh Grant felt like he took more of a supporting role in all the stories, but he still gave good supporting performances. His appearance as a deadly rogue in the post-apocalyptic story is unforgettable. I couldn't believe I was looking at Hugh Grant. Susan Sarandon felt underutilized in the film. Hugo Weaving was a great addition to the cast- it was so weird seeing him as this brutal woman nurse, but he gets to play a number of villainous characters, and he does that so well. Doona Bae was remarkable as Somni-451. Her acting in some of the other stories was only average, but she hit a home run with her portrayal of this special android. Ben Whishaw was incredible in his main story, and I always love seeing Keith David. Truly, the cast as a whole was excellent.

So, after watching the movie, I read the book, then watched the movie again. I feel I have a pretty good grasp on the story. In both formats, there are stronger and weaker story lines, and this obviously contributes and detracts from the overall story. The first story involves a notary and a doctor on board a ship in the Pacific Ocean in the mid 1850s. This story is headlined by Jim Sturgess, who gives his best performance in the film as Adam Ewing. He was perfect for the part, and interacts well with Tom Hanks' evil Dr. Goose. This was one of the strongest stories, especially when it starts to touch on themes of slavery. It contains the best line in the entire film, which sums up everything we see- "No matter what you do it will never amount to anything more than a single drop in a limitless ocean! Adam Ewing: What is an ocean but a multitude of drops?" Powerful, powerful stuff.

The second story features Ben Whishaw in the main role, with a strong supporting performance by Jim Broadbent. This is a little weaker than the Adam Ewing story, but it features some truly poignant, beautiful moments. It features the "Cloud Atlas Sextant" and some of the most hauntingly gorgeous music you've heard. I really did get into this story and enjoyed it quite a bit. Whishaw was really, really good here.

The third story features Halle Berry as the lead, as an investigative reporter who stumbles across a plot to create a nuclear accident for business reasons. This one featured some terrific individual moments, but felt a bit disconnected to me. It felt like there was so much potential here- this could have been the best of all the stories, but it was never realized. I enjoyed this storyline, but not nearly as much as I should have. I loved Keith David here, and Hugo Weaving gets to play a good villain.

The fourth story is the weakest, and I struggle with its inclusion in both the book and the film. It features Jim Broadbent in the lead role, and it's about a publisher who finds himself captive in a home for the elderly. I get the subtle ways this one connected to the others, and how it quietly touched upon "captivity" in a different light, but I just found the whole story ineffective. I was bored at many points. The highlight of this sequence has to be the initial scene, where we see Tom Hanks as a thug, and in a way I'd never expected to see him. The rest of the story just did not do it for me.

The fifth story might be the best- it's about Somni-451, a genetically-engineered fabricant. It is set in a dystopian future, and is truly beautiful in many ways. It felt like that by looking into the future, we could touch on some essential, unchanging aspects of humanity. This story also made you question what exactly does it mean to be human? This is where Doona Bae truly shines, and also features a terrific supporting performance by Jim Sturgess, in a role that took me about 2 hours to figure out it was him. This was probably my favorite storyline.

The sixth storyline is also very story- it's set in the far, far future, after most of the world has crumbled. This one features Tom Hanks in the lead role, with a very good supporting performance by Halle Berry. Once you get past the bizarre dialogue (it's sometimes so hard to follow, but we did start saying, "Is that the true-true?" after watching the movie), it's a surprisingly powerful story. It also features Hugo Weaving as this truly bizarre Devil-like character that you have to see to believe. This story is pretty powerful as well.

I could go on an on talking about Cloud Atlas, because it's a challenging, original, unique film. It's the kind of movie Hollywood is scared to death to make. Sadly, people didn't go see it- they'd prefer to safe, blockbuster films that don't make them think too hard. This is the kind of film we desperately need more of- the kind of boundary-pushing, mind-blowing film that takes courage to make, courage to watch, and offers a huge payoff. I loved this film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 8



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Matrix, The Fountain, Speed Racer