This wasn't a very good movie at all. If you've read the novel, you'll see how the movie adapts some of the novel (some actual dialogue), but entirely loses the spirit. If you haven't read the novel, I can't begin to imagine what you might think of this film.
The problem, to me, was incredibly obvious. The writing was awful. The acting wasn't really all that bad, and Bruce Willis was actually pretty good in the lead role. But three of the main role, Harry Le Sabre (Nick Nolte), Wayne Hoobler (Omar Epps), and Kilgore Trout (Albert Finney) are written entirely wrong. We are meant to see something of ourselves in these characters, when instead we saw what is almost animation.
This is the whole problem with the movie. The material is treated almost as a comedy (look at the category it's listed under), which it is most certainly not. Between Epps bouncing around like an idiot, Nolte mumbling through 3/4 of his line, and Finney portraying Trout all wrong (there's supposed to be a quiet dignity to him which is missing until the end), this movie just misses on all cylinders.
As an interesting side note, Michael Clarke Duncan of Green Mile fame has a cameo here as a prisoner - it may be the only role he's ever played where his character isn't revealed to have a sweet personality under a gruff exterior.
The problem, to me, was incredibly obvious. The writing was awful. The acting wasn't really all that bad, and Bruce Willis was actually pretty good in the lead role. But three of the main role, Harry Le Sabre (Nick Nolte), Wayne Hoobler (Omar Epps), and Kilgore Trout (Albert Finney) are written entirely wrong. We are meant to see something of ourselves in these characters, when instead we saw what is almost animation.
This is the whole problem with the movie. The material is treated almost as a comedy (look at the category it's listed under), which it is most certainly not. Between Epps bouncing around like an idiot, Nolte mumbling through 3/4 of his line, and Finney portraying Trout all wrong (there's supposed to be a quiet dignity to him which is missing until the end), this movie just misses on all cylinders.
As an interesting side note, Michael Clarke Duncan of Green Mile fame has a cameo here as a prisoner - it may be the only role he's ever played where his character isn't revealed to have a sweet personality under a gruff exterior.