Review of The Shining (1980) by Cade B — 01 Apr 2016

I understand why the film is a classic. The cinematography, the score and the acting by Jack Nicholson are all top notch-no doubt. But I have to give this one a three. Here's why. The first thing I noticed were the ridiculously long and monotonous, sometimes irrelevant scenes with too much random dialogue; many scenes were five and six minutes without contributing anything to the story.

Kubrick was in great need of cutting the film; nothing like Full Metal Jacket or A Clockwork Orange where everything seemed to have an intent in moving the plot of the film forward. Granted, the high-strung score goes a long way to build back the suspense lost during these scenes but something I could have done without.

I wasn't impressed at all with how pets got little to no explanation either; the lady in 237, etc. overall, not bad. Wouldn't watch it twice. 2:00 hours of my life is enough.