Am I strange for not loving Everything Everywhere All At Once?
Am I strange for not loving Everything Everywhere All At Once?
Just got around to watching it for the first time tonight. We had so many people tell us we'd love it and need to watch it, so it was high on our list. Great cast, and it won so many awards.
I didn't hate it, but I was left scratching my head over all the hype. I like odd movies and books, so it's not that I couldn't handle the weirdness. It seemed like in the same vein as Scott Pilgrim, and if you told me it wasn't a bit box office but got a cult following, I'd totally believe that.
My wife felt exactly the same way. Maybe it's just one of those cases where there was too much hype for us, but I felt kind of let down.
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Here's the thing. There are a lot of people who are unhappy with the way their lives turned out. Or they have relationships that they wish were different. Regret is a universal theme. And this movie explores what might have been for characters in those circumstances with the possibility of changing those things in their past that they regret, while at the same the movie maintains a surreality and sense of humor that's memorable and endearing.
I think it might resonate more with people who have lived long enough to experience that feeling of "is this all there is?"—and I don't mean younger people whose lives are still mostly ahead of them. I mean those people who are divorced or contemplating divorce, parents with disappointing relationships with their adult children, those caring for an older family member who feel trapped. There's a reason most actors in the film are in their 50s and 60s, as well as 40s.
If you didn't like it, maybe that's why. I finally reread The Great Gatsby when I was approaching middle age and it resonated with me in a way that it didn't when I was in high school, to the point where it became one of my favorite novels. You are literally and figuratively a different person when you experience something at a later age.
I'm not suggesting everyone of a certain age or experience should like this movie. I'm just saying it might be why some didn't connect with it.
I'm in my 60s, and I don't lack for regrets. I completely understood and resonated with that aspect of the movie. It just didn't seem that deep to me. And, as I've said repeatedly, I didn't dislike it, I just felt like it was over-hyped.
Got it. For what it's worth, I also think it was overhyped, although I don't really blame the movie for that. That said, I don't think any Oscar winners that come to mind have necessarily been particularly deep.
In terms of recent winners, quality-wise I think this was about on-par with Birdman, which I also enjoyed. I think Parasite was superior, but I have loved Bong Joon-ho since I saw Memories of Murder, which I also think is superior, so I'm biased.
The Daniels also made a 10-minute short called, "Interesting Ball". It felt like their entire goal was to say nothing at all and still make it feel profound.
Everything Everywhere wasn't that, because it really explored regret, acceptance, and the importance of pursuing empathy in relationships. That being said, they definitely did their director magic and hyperbolized everything they could.
Is it still my favorite movie? Yes.
Yes it is.