'Brutal' Decision --- Day 14/16

Walk: AMC Kabuki (The Brutalist)

Distance: 3.5 miles

Adrien Brody as Laszlo Toth in The Brutalist

So, 'brutal' decision time: would Ciwt recommend The Brutalist?

For an outing, supporting theaters and the movie industry, and a probable Oscar winner performance, by all means yes  Also, the vast majority of critics say "Absolutely; it is a great, epic success!"

But Ciwt the left the theater from The Brutalist on a downer.  There are several threads in the movie, all of which she found depressing or at least off-putting and none tied together to make wholecloth.  Much of the dialogue was spoken so softly with accents that she either couldn't hear or understand it.  The photography seemed to her self-consciously arty and disjointed.  The scenery was cold and overpowering rather than magnificent.  She found every character hard to take in his or her own way .

Bascially nothing drew Ciwt into The Brutalist and held her attention except Adrien Brody's self-possessed acting.  Without him the movie would have just be a collection of  pieces. But he is that compelling, the glue that rivited her.  Which is not to say his character (Laszlo Toth) is likeable or even knowable.  Sympathetic at times certainly, but he shoulders his world alone and doesn't invite others in.  

Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones who play Toth's employer and wife respectively are the second and third acting glue in the movie. But, like Toth, but they are darkly fascinating but only partially fleshed out.

So, back to the question at hand: would Ciwt recommend going to the 3 hour 35 minute (with intermission at half point) The Brutalist?  Ciwt thinks yes - principally to experience Brody's performance and a fine movie making effort overall. Plus it really doesn't feel that long and keeps theaters alive.