I want to start by saying The Brutalist was definitely a filmmakers piece of art– you can feel Brady Corbet’s artistic instincts all over this. I can take that, but I wasn’t totally sold.
Here’s the thing: Adrian Brody? Brilliant. Definitely earned all the awards he was nominated for. But Felicity Jones for a wife? I’m so sorry, I just didn’t buy it. Their relationship wasn’t natural, which is a shame since the narrative depends on it.
And speaking of the narrative… it’s grand, super complex, but it never gripped me. Some of the dialogue got a little long and times I felt myself zoning out. This could also be the long runtime, 3 hours and 35 minutes long.
From a film point of view, the film, for me, was a bit of a disappointment. Some of the shots are gorgeous, but some of the filmmaking made me cringe. (That bedroom scene, for instance, was a little baffling.)
From a plot point of view, it went quite awry. I didn’t think it was really telling me anything, and I just kind of wanted to say “wait, what?” moments. And there were subplots that I felt were redundant, so I was left to wonder why they were even there.
I am not suggesting that it is a poor movie. There is much to admire about “The Brutalist”. But for a film that’s almost four hours long, I want to walk away saying this was a monumental film that would be a classic for years to come. I didn’t get that.
Final verdict? 3 out of 5 stars.
