It's perhaps the classic film of Mark Wahlberg and in the top two of Joaquin Phoenix, not just for their studied playings, but their colleagues', the direction, editing, conception, most of the whole production. The directing with editing are very fine indeed. The cinematography is so immaculate I didn't even think of it until the end. Top stuff.
I think an average of around 6 stars is really low for this king of all morality tales. It's not perfect, and does have a simplistic edge (what do you expect for a Big Apple 'street' morality fable?) but others have agreed with me that it's one of the best productions of the whole genre in modern film. It deserves an 8 to 10 star average, while it's not the kind of film which is made particularly for repeated viewings. Some are, some aren't, but as a once in a long time watch, this amazing opera like fable is immaculately constructed.
I think an average of around 6 stars is really low for this king of all morality tales. It's not perfect, and does have a simplistic edge (what do you expect for a Big Apple 'street' morality fable?) but others have agreed with me that it's one of the best productions of the whole genre in modern film. It deserves an 8 to 10 star average, while it's not the kind of film which is made particularly for repeated viewings. Some are, some aren't, but as a once in a long time watch, this amazing opera like fable is immaculately constructed.