Being Human

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Audience Member This is a ponderous, slow-moving film. It takes a bit of commitment, but it's worth it. It's not a comedy, so don't go into it expecting that. The funniest role, in this movie, isn't even portrayed by Robin Williams. It's portrayed by John Turturro. Williams portrays a series of tormented souls. They all had happiness, and lost it, through a series of poor decisions. They get it back, at times, or don't, at other times. Personally, I love the movie. It's fantastic. Thought-provoking, and emotional. I highly recommend it. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie suffers the most from the pedantic, predictable, plodding narration of Theresa Russel. Sorry to say she sounds like a school teacher reading to a group of four year olds. Must I have the movie explained to me? Really? I get it now just shut up and let me watch. I think I would gladly pay $20 bucks for a version of this movie sans narration. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member This film was not very well thought out. I liked the initial idea of it, but all the stories being told were a bit boring, and there was very little overall point or theme to the film. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Really wanted to like this, but it's a shadow of forsyth's typical output. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member I honestly had no idea what to expect when I first heard about this film. All I knew was that it was composed of five separate stories that spanned centuries, with Robin Williams as the link between all of them. Sounds quite ambitious, right? Yes, but the end result was underwhelming and, dare I say it, a little dull. There are, however, some major themes explored here as indicated by the title. I guess if you were to boil the film down to its essence, it is, simply put, about being human. Being more specific, it is about mankind's search and need for companionship and family, along with all of the other small things, good and bad, which enter into our lives on our journey through time. Robin Williams' character Hector, a name which he has for the entire film, can be said to literally make a journey through time. It's not explicitly stated, but since he does keep the same name throughout, you could say that his character in each subsequent story is a reincarnation of who he is in the previous one. This is all fine, but there were some spots which felt underdeveloped and worst of all, the film is practically destroyed by some of the worst voice-over narration I've ever heard. Thankfully, by the final segment the narration isn't so omnipresent. By far the worst effect of the narration is to replace character development and spoon-feed the film's themes to the audience. I did a little research online, and apparently the director, Bill Forsyth, had to cut 40 minutes and add the narration after an initial cut had a poor test screening. It's a pity that that early version isn't available to watch, because I think the film would be better in that form. The closest I think the film got was the final segment, but that one segment didn't exactly make up for all that came before it. But it did tie the film together thematically, and provide a satisfying conclusion to the larger story arc. Overall it was a satisfactory watch, but it still felt like it was missing something. Better films like this would be CLOUD ATLAS and THE FOUNTAIN, but there are still elements to appreciate in this film. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Compromised by studio interference, Forsyth's metaphysical tale of reincarnation has an interesting premise, and a quality cast to back it up, with Williams in several surprisingly restrained roles, but 'Being Human' lacks focus, meandering at times and never fully exploring its ideas, with overbearing, spoon-feeding narration and a weak first 'story', where the Bronze Age ends up looking more like the caveman-early hunter era, with poor costuming and location choices. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Being Human

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