Steineded How sad is this?

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

billyboy77777 The first thing I couldn't help but notice was the old timey, sepia look that is so common in most of the newer period pieces. I get the mood that's trying to be created; 1800's, no light bulbs, times are tough,, but must it come at the expense of my eyesight. Even the outdoor scenes, which should have been bright enough to make a person snow-blind, where to say the least,,, dark. Please, anyone out there who wants to recreate this effect, at least turn on one 40 watt bulb,, for the sake of my eyes.And once again, close-up, after close-up, after close-up,, flip flop, flip flop, flip flop,,, why is this so popular. Is it a low budget tactic, so they need to rent only one hotel room. One actor comes in for a day, shoots his scenes and the next day another actor does his,, until they run through the entire cast,, then it's all spliced together. Surely this must have been taught in an economics class and not cinema school. I can't be the only person on the planet who gets severe headaches from this strobe effect.Had I not read it here, I would not have known that the first flash-back scene was,,, a flash-back scene. I thought it was just some old guy sitting in the next room. But it was much in line with the rest of the movie,,,, disconnected. The only part of the movie that had any connection at all, was the constant trudging through the snow. It had no meaning and added nothing but it certainly was consistent.In all honesty, I watched only 30 minutes, which should have been plenty of time to,, in the very least,, hint of some sort of plot. Maybe it's me, but I think a plot is somewhat important to the film. If this dog ended like "Bonnie and Clyde", only the projectionist would know, if he happened to be awake. I can't for the life of me figure out how this sleep aid got a 3 outta 4 star rating.Lastly, I've seen every western ever made, an this ain't one. I've seen plenty of horses in Central Park and Belmont. Don't let the horses fool ya. Giddyup............

jake-179 What a total waste. This movie should have been good. It had great actors, great scenics, great cinematography, and no story. Perhaps the story was there, as it was an adaptation of a novel, but the director TOTALLY failed to tell whatever story there was to be had. The director did a great job of finding shots, and making the viewer feel as though he was experiencing a developing mining town in the 1800's, but there was just no cohesion of story telling. The pace of the movie was so slow, it was impossible to follow. One scene sets up, and you think as the viewer that you are going to being to get a feeling of what the movie is about, and then it just trails off and another scene begins. I thought it was especially stupid when the band of guys with guns confronts the band of rail road guys. Everybody pulls out their guns, the rail road guy shoots on of the town guys, and then all the town guys just turn around and walk away like nothing happened. The direction was so soft, so subdued, so poker-faced, that the movie never picks up any momentum and consequently fails in telling any real story. This is a failure of the director. This movie should be avoided. If you are looking for a good western about gold miners confronting greedy town folk, then you should watch PALE RIDER with Clint Eastwood. THE CLAIM was boring and pointless. The only reason I rated it a 2 instead of a 1 is because I thought it was shot well. One last point I want to make is the Wes Bently looked pretty much exactly the same in this as he did in American BEAUTY, sporting the same stupid snow cap. That kind of snow cap is a modern one, with an ELASTIC HEAD BAND, that did not exist in the 1800's. Again, a total failure on the part of the idiot that directed this disaster.

rooprect I wasn't expecting much when I bought this DVD for $4. The cover showed one of those forgettable everybody-stare-at-the-camera-and-try-to-look-cool" images, and the title itself makes it seem like a forgettable pulp novel. "The Claim". Wooooo. The only reason I bought it was because I'm a fan of Natassja Kinski.Well, Natassja didn't really have a leading role; instead the film focused mostly on Peter Mullan as Mr. Dillon, the wealthy, powerful owner of "Kingdom Come", a small but promising town at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Although there are several interesting subplots, the story is about him, and Mullan delivers an excellent performance. He is neither good nor evil but a believable human character who is caught up in his ambition....which leads me to the title of my review. I highly recommend you read the short poem "Ozymandias" by Percy Shelley before watching this film. The film itself uses it briefly in the beginning where a stage performer recites parts of it to an audience. This immediately piqued my interest, since Ozy is one of my favourite poems. As the story progressed, I realized that this injection was not trivial; the film is essentially built on the story of Ozymandias, and once you realize that, you'll be able to focus on the main theme.As I said, there are several sub-themes that are interwoven: Milla Jovovich plays a great role of a singer who's not the "marrying type" (and by the way, she sings some great Portugese songs). Wes Bentley plays a young official for the railroad, sort of a play-by-the-rules boyscout type who is at odds with the subjective rules of the old west. Natassja is a woman slowly dying of consumption and haunted by a bitter past. Sarah Polley is her daughter, innocent and oblivious but learning quickly. They all deliver great performances with my only criticism being their accents which are a little too modern, but if you can overlook that, there's no problem.The director used some unusual techniques which caught my attention. For one thing, when switching to dream sequences, he didn't do the stereotypical sepia tint and harp plucking to announce "hey we're going to a dream sequence". It may confuse you at first, but it keeps you on your toes.This film has a very epic feel to it, perhaps like Sergio Leone's classic "Once Upon a Time in the West", and at just under 2 hours, the length and pacing seem right. But somehow I didn't quite get as much character development as I would've wanted. I suppose that's plain math... if we have 5 main characters, that gives each one only 24 minutes. Less if you consider that the main focus is on Mullan. But perhaps upon repeated viewings, you can get more of a story on each of them.One other criticism I have is that the musical score wasn't very dynamic. It seemed to repeat the same 2 sweeping chords over & over. Then silence. Then back to the same 2 chords. Repeat. But this is a minor criticism, and I doubt you would've even noticed it had I not said anything. Oopsie, sorry bout that. But like I said earlier, Milla's singing provides enough to impress us musically.Overall, it's a good film and a great interpretation of Ozymandias in the Old West (again I urge you to read the poem so you may find the same beauty in the film as I did). Also if you have a Blockbuster near you, check out the used pile where you can find this for $4. Definitely worth the price.

CountZero313 Frank Cottrell Boyce is dismissive of screen writing books, but on the evidence of this disjointed, incoherent outing he may want to take a trip to the library. Bearing a superficial resemblance to The Mayor of Casterbridge, this film lacks dramatic tension, dramatic irony, humour, characters who we can love or loathe, and most essentially a plot that resolves itself on the basis of the choices the characters make. Hardy's novel traces the rise, fall, then rise again of a powerful, cantankerous individual. The novel's tragic irony is that the 'daughter' the Mayor sacrifices everything for is not, in fact, his biological daughter. This plot line is inexplicably discarded by Boyce. It robs the climax of any dramatic power, Winterbottom looking to compensate for the lack of emotional payoff with a show of pyrotechnics.Like Boyce, Winterbottom fails to do justice to the story. Daniel gives up all for his daughter, but the emotional impact is never relayed to the audience. Elena tells Daniel that to embrace Hope as a daughter he must tell her the truth. That conversation takes place with the camera behind Daniel and Elena, their faces masked in silhouette. Why cast actors of the caliber of Kinski and Mullan if you won't let the audience see them act in their most dramatic moments? The only father-daughter interaction between Daniel marrying Elena and the crucial scene where he tells her the truth, is a dance at the wedding relayed in a prosaic, underwhelming longshot. When Daniel comes to tell her of his past misdeed he does so matter-of-factly, she runs away, and the inner turmoil this must have caused for both individuals is never examined. It is symptomatic of the failure to manage any emotional arcs or beats in this film. Winterbottom does not seem to follow the basic rules of action-re-action. When Hope first reveals herself to Daniel with the rosary beads, there is shock - then nothing. A reflective moment, with Daniel fingering the beads, is called for but never offered up. Dalglish loves Hope, sleeps with someone else, blames it on his job, and is forgiven. A sub-plot involving a railroad engineer and a prostitute takes up more screen time than the Hope-Dalglish romance. At two points people are shot dead but we cut to life going on as normal, with no sign of grief or consequences for the community.The film looks like an amalgam of Winterbottom's Wonderland (the fireworks scene is recycled set-up for set-up) and Miller and Mrs. McCabe. However, it has neither the keenly felt human longing of the former or the frailty and mystery of Altman's latter.Perhaps in reaction to the less-than-inspiring efforts of his collaborators, Michael Nyman seems not to have bothered too much with this one. He re-jigs a few notes on his Wonderland score and layers it over The Claim. All the music did was take me out of the film and make me think how sad it is to see a genius plagiarizing his own work.The Claim looks nice in places, though the snow-covered pioneer town invites comparisons with Altman's masterpiece and once again falls short. There are some nice moments, most notably when Jovovich sings about Portugal. But it is all very bitty, ill-disciplined and under-realised. It looks like a work in progress rather than a finished film. Boyce, Winterbottom and Nyman have all done better in the past, and need to do so again.