Will someone tell me why Terence Malick has the reputation he does? We just endured THE NEW WORLD, one of the most tedious films I've ever seen. I'm beginning to believe that Colin Farrell just simply cannot act, though God knows his director, Malick, certainly doesn't help him with slumberfest (I kid you not, The Lovely Wife and I must have dozed off a half dozen times during it...the only problem being, you wake up and nothing's happened and you're right where you were), providing him with no character, no scintillating dialogue, and a threadbare plot. Endless shots of people wandering around the woods...gazing at each other either lovingly, sadly, or contemplatively...long after the point of the scene has been established (and there weren't a lot of points). Almost no dialogue, but the film is saddled with a pointless narration. You know it's not needed when you can understand everything ad nauseam through the laborious shots that pound the simpistic and simple-minded story into you in beating-the-dead-horse doses. And despite its simplistic story, the motivations remain muddled. A little more character, Terence, less scenery, okay? And there are these god-awful jarring blackouts and the whole thing, despite its simplisticness, seems disconnected and aimless. Avoid it like the plague...unless you're having trouble sleeping.
I felt the same way about Malick's Days of Heaven. He gets my prize for most over-rated director.