Review of Museum Hours (2012) by Mary T — 06 Jul 2013

I expected to love it since it involved museums and Vienna. The idea of a relationship that develops unexpectedly between a museum guard and an accidental tourist also appealed to me. Instead, it was like watching water boil.

The little short by Jem Cohen before the movie was a forewarning. There was not detail he thought too small or irrelevant. Visions of Gowanus and stray cats set to music reminded me of navel staring when you're high on grass.

The movie itself was just a much longer version of that exercise in self-indulgence. There were lovely bits of acting and dialogue that painted the character of the protagonists. But they were strung out with so much in between that it was difficult to sustain any storyteling arc.

Too bad.