Ever watched a movie that 1. you had to get through the entire thing to decide if you liked it... 2. had so many story lines that you need to see it several times to get it all... 3. had you completely confused in the first 10 minutes? Cloud Atlas is that movie for me. This movie has some of the biggest stars of our time, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, and Hugh Grant. I still haven't decided yet if these stars made the movie or was it just a plain old good movie. I suspect this movie will be nominated for many Academy Awards especially for costumes, make-up, set design, and maybe Best Picture and Best Direction. I wouldn't be too disappointed if Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Doona Bae, and Jim Broadbent weren't nominated for their acting in this movie.
It's really hard to give you a brief synopsis of this movie as there are 6 different stories intertwined in one. The best way to put it is throughout these six stories we see how past, present, and future affects all humankind. Some stories are more intriguing than others even though they all are great. The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish is probably my favorite. It stars Jim Broadbent as a book publisher named Timothy Cavendish who get's into money trouble. He seeks out help from his brother who sends him away unknowingly to a retirement home. Timothy spends the rest of the movie trying to escape with the help of some of his elderly friends in the home who don't want to be there either. This story brings the comedy to such a dramatic movie. But old people, usually are the comic relief in movies.
The most powerful story to me is An Orison of Sonmi-451 staring Doona Bae, a Korean Actress. This story is set in the future in Neo-Seoul, Korea. A new city since old Seoul is underwater due to a flood. Sonmi-451 is a genetically engineered woman who spends her life enslaved by the government to be a waitress and to do whatever the patron ask of her. She escapes slavery with the help of a rogue group who feel she can be a revolutionary. She falls in love with the man who helps her escape, Hae-Joo Chang played by Jim Sturgess, and helps start a revolution after she learns what really happens to the waitresses who earn their "freedom". Again, there are 4 more stories, and they all connect to teach this powerful message that life isn't just about you, but that we all work together in the bigger picture.
I definitely will see this movie again at some point. There was just so much going on that I have to watch it again to see what I missed. There was one story, Sloosha's Crossin' an' Ev'rythin' After, that you really have to pay attention because the language is slightly different, so I'm sure I missed some dialogue there. This movie will either move you to joy or you will hate it because of the confusion. I say go see it expecting a lot, but allow yourself to take in the message and you just may enjoy it.
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