Review of Youth Without Youth (2007) by Grant S — 27 May 2016

Interesting, with mountains of potential, but ultimately disappointing. The movie was set up to be something very profound, but then drifted and failed to make a point. Still has enough coherent good ideas to be half-decent, but things could have been a whole lot better.

The plot is where this lives and dies, and it is pretty convoluted. Kind of reminds me of Benjamin Button meets Inception, if directed by David Lynch (not that it is, it is just weird enough to be a David Lynch movie). The complexity turns out to be its downfall, as you get the feeling the writer had nowhere to go eventually. The script is too clever for its own good.

Director Francis Ford Coppola must bear much of the blame, as he wrote the screenplay (adapted from Mircea Eliade's book), as well as directed the movie. Direction is good, but is hampered by the plot.

Tim Roth puts in a solid performance in the lead role. Lesser-known Alexandra Maria Lara is good, and very beautiful, as the love interest.