Review of Amadeus (1984) by Sol H — 27 Sep 2011
I really don't understand why this film is so revered. Maybe it's because I watched the fake director's cut as opposed to the apparently superior theatrical cut that shaves 20 minutes of its runtime, but the film just felt like an overblown, by-the-numbers biopic. None of it was boring particularly, but it just felt like it was plodding on and on after the 2nd hour or so. It never really gets going. Very little happens. And the performances are far from incredible. They're not bad, but they're not amazing either. They're functional.
Add in the laughable age-makeup used on F Murray Abraham in the bookend scenes and the flittering tone (it really feels like the film can't tell if it wants to be serious or a comedy depending on what scene you watch) and you're basically left with a fairly bland film that runs for 3 hours without really being able to justify doing so.
It's not bad, it's just not great and if I invest 3 hours of my life into a film, I want it to be great. On the plus side, the costumes and sets all look nice, but that's really all there is it it. It was surprisingly shallow given how well it could have examined aspects of the human psyche and frankly, the whole time I just wished I was listening to 'Rock Me Amadeus' by Falco which is a far better and more entertaining telling of the man's life whittled down to 3 minutes rather than 3 hours.
6/10.
This review of Amadeus (1984) was written by Sol H on 27 Sep 2011.
Amadeus has generally received very positive reviews.
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