"The Fountain" the movie "possible spolier"
 

Not sure if this is the right forum, but I wanted to share my experience after seeing this promising film by Daren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream). I was really excited about watching it, and went to the Grove here in Los Angeles; however, I cannot stress how disappointed I was.

So let me quickly go over the major problems with this movie.

1. There was no real story (generally 3 Acts), but a good idea about forever living. That does not, however, translate into a movie.

2. Most of the shots/scenes were repeated throughout the movie, but not to enhance a story. It seemed like they only shot 40 minutes of footage and then repeated the shots over and over again.

3. There is not any real background or explanation for any of the events in the movie. There is no real pay off or explanation for the end.

4. There was no character development or build up. Frankly, I didn't care about any of the characters.

Overall a real disappoinment, which may have been visually interesting movie, but a narrative challenged one. Again tells me that it is the story that will keep an audience entertained, not special effects.

I really want to see this movie too; the trailer looked fantastic. I did not know it was out.

It seems that the NYT agrees with you. They also have an interesting behind-the-scenes feature.

Too bad! I will have to pass this time; I can't afford to give it a try at the rate cinemas charge here.

I just saw this movie and have to say I liked it. It will not be one of my top movies ever, not even one of favorites but I did like it. As far as I can tell the story is a bit like Donnie Darko’s in that its doesn’t seem to make much sense until it is explained, but I can tell there is something there. I thought the performances in this movie were great (even though The New York Times doesn’t). I felt a strong connection to the characters and that feeling is one of the reasons I stayed for the entire movie. The other reason was that I was hoping for a pay off at the end, which never seemed to come. There should have been about 30 minutes more footage added showing how the different story lines connected. In any case this movie is probably not worth seeing unless you can listen to a director commentary to explain it as you go.