Ostensibly, 5-25-77 is a coming of age story regarding the filmmaking aspirations of its lead character, Patrick. And if that's all it tried to be, it might have been an excellent film.
There are so many subplots that the movie is nearly incoherent. Only a couple of these subplots wrap up. Many are seemingly dropped, and one or two don't even properly begin... they're just somehow there. Technical issues aside (and there are a lot of them), the narrative never seems to find its rhythm. By the end of the film, it's trying to be about love and finding oneself, but Patrick begins the film already seeming to know who he is. The rest is filler. Literally.
There is a very good sequence when Patrick visits Hollywood, but it's not enough to save the movie.
The editing is horrible, almost nonsensical. It's as though the filmmakers concentrated on six minutes at a time, without once giving thought to how those six minutes connect with the rest of the film.
The use of music in scenes is among the worst uses of music I've ever witnessed. In an early scene, the mix is so bad you can barely hear the characters talking. In a later scene that - if silent - would have been a beautiful, poignant moment, silly music instead up-ends the scene to the point of an eye-roll.
And the story? Well, were it not for the characters telling you what was going on at any given time, you wouldn't have a clue what it was.
I so very much wanted to like this film, but I so very much do not.
Several friends of mine have seen shorter versions (the one I watched was around 2 hours and 15 minutes), and they all speak highly of those shorter cuts. I'd be curious to watch them, but you couldn't pay me to sit through this one again. It hurt to watch.
There are so many subplots that the movie is nearly incoherent. Only a couple of these subplots wrap up. Many are seemingly dropped, and one or two don't even properly begin... they're just somehow there. Technical issues aside (and there are a lot of them), the narrative never seems to find its rhythm. By the end of the film, it's trying to be about love and finding oneself, but Patrick begins the film already seeming to know who he is. The rest is filler. Literally.
There is a very good sequence when Patrick visits Hollywood, but it's not enough to save the movie.
The editing is horrible, almost nonsensical. It's as though the filmmakers concentrated on six minutes at a time, without once giving thought to how those six minutes connect with the rest of the film.
The use of music in scenes is among the worst uses of music I've ever witnessed. In an early scene, the mix is so bad you can barely hear the characters talking. In a later scene that - if silent - would have been a beautiful, poignant moment, silly music instead up-ends the scene to the point of an eye-roll.
And the story? Well, were it not for the characters telling you what was going on at any given time, you wouldn't have a clue what it was.
I so very much wanted to like this film, but I so very much do not.
Several friends of mine have seen shorter versions (the one I watched was around 2 hours and 15 minutes), and they all speak highly of those shorter cuts. I'd be curious to watch them, but you couldn't pay me to sit through this one again. It hurt to watch.