I was really, really pumped for A Big Bold Beautiful Journey. The whole idea (which you can read in the synopsis down below) sounded awesome. I watched the trailer and thought, “Okay, maybe this is going to be really cool.” Alas, I am here to report that it was not.
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is a romantic fantasy directed by Kogonada and written by Seth Reiss. It stars Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell as two complete strangers, Sarah and David, who meet at a wedding and get sent on a surreal road trip during which they are able to literally revisit and relive some of the most important moments in their lives. A bold idea in theory, but for me, it was just bad on so many levels.
The very first thing that I have an issue with is the casting of Margot Robbie. I think she was miscast. There are a lot of other actresses I could think of who could have taken on this character and made it something more than Robbie did. She’s great at a certain type, but this, in particular, felt like a role that was supposed to give her a little more leeway with a character, and I just didn’t see it. And more importantly, I really wanted to.
I think Colin Farrell is a phenomenal actor, but he couldn’t even save this one. The story itself is not great. It didn’t feel cinematic to me. It felt more like a theatrical production trying to work as a movie, rather than just letting it be one. I think if I had seen this somewhere off-Broadway, I would have really liked it as a play. But as a film? I did not.
Even the cinematography (done by Benjamin Loeb) fell flat for me. There were multiple points at which you are just supposed to sit there and ooh and ahh at the sight of what you’re looking at. To me, it just wasn’t it.
Most importantly, the main characters (and, really, the only characters) never felt like they were soulmates to me. The chemistry was lacking. This is a movie where the ENTIRE basis of the film is that these two are meant to be together. That they were supposed to cross paths. That they’re soulmates. I just didn’t believe it.
For all those reasons and many more, I give A Big Bold Beautiful Journey a 1.5/5. This, I am sorry to say, I believe is one of the worst movies I have seen this year, and I hate to say that about a movie. But here we are. If you want to make up your own mind about it, it’s in theaters right now. Or you can always wait and check it out for streaming.
And, of course, if you’ve seen it, let me know what you thought in the comments! I feel like I am in the minority on this one.
