I walked into Cloud Atlas in anticipation because several people had told me they enjoyed the film. A quarter of an hour after it started, I already wanted out. The story just wasn't compelling. Having A-list stars didn't salvage the movie. The movie seemed so pretentious. It wanted to be grand, but it wasn't. It wanted to be out there, but it didn't seem original. The Lord of the Rings was effortlessly majestic, perhaps because it didn't seem arrogant, fake, or 'try too hard' like Cloud Atlas.
I don't know how faithful the film remained to the book since I haven't read it, but the story life of the film was a big yawn. Maybe I didn't like it because I was left wondering, 'So what?'. Why should I care that the past and the present and the future are connected? There were some moments that made me laugh, though, but they were few and far between. I felt little empathy for the characters, so you could imagine that I didn't feel much emotion throughout the film, except impatience and anger.
I guess my main beef with this film boils down to insincerity. It was like the director was more concerned about appearing grandiose than telling a good story.
I've written so negatively about this film, but many people have enjoyed it, so if the trailer appeals to you, then by all means watch the film!
