Movies: Youth Without Youth

So I saw this movie a while ago (sometime in March), but I've been busy and haven't had a chance to write up a review.

The first thing you need to know about this movie: THIS IS A FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA MOVIE. So if you are one of those "I hate long movies" or "I don't want movies with substance, I just want to be entertained" people... you probably shouldn't see this movie.

This film runs about 2.2 hours... which really isn't that long. It's also a movie about the idea of romance and destiny and therefore doesn't feature too much action/comedy/mediocre crap. Oh, and it doesn't have very much of that CGI mess that people seem to like. It's a FILM... the way movies were meant to be made.

So the plot:

Europe during the Nazi invasion/WWII. There's this guy... he's old and sad and really just wants his life to be over. An accident befalls him (I won't tell you what), and suddenly- he's young again. Only... not totally young. See... he's still stuck in the current time and his mind is still old and he still has all his memories, but his body has jumped back a good 30 years or so.

So basically, you (as the slightly confused/totally intrigued viewer) get to go on this crazy psychological journey regarding philosophy and reality and romance and depression and all kinds of deep things.

I, honestly, REALLY enjoyed this film. It's refreshing to see someone making a movie without huge Hollywood names (the only "star" in this movie is Tim Roth and not too many people know who he is). It's a crazy movie with some crazy ideas... but it's solid. And thought-provoking.

The Good: Cool ideas and really interesting. See above... I think I covered it. You'll just have to see it to understand.

The Bad: Can be confusing... there's a lot going on in the movie. Not the happy ending the viewers want for the nice old man.

So yeah... I would totally recommend this film to people who are willing to sit down and watch a movie that doesn't involve everything blowing up and lots of sex. It's a real movie... give it a chance.

My rating: A-