Nathan Box

Zooming out further, we realize all the tropes, signs, and elements of this film want us to see. This movie wants us to poke holes in the way Hollywood does business. It wants us to see the pitch process, the recycling of ideas, the blame when movies fail, and the ridiculousness of it. When you finally realize this is a movie within a movie, everything before it clicks and makes perfect sense. 

Leaving the theater, I cried all the way to my car. I also wrestled with my sadness and past. Whose pain and struggles have gone unseen by me? Who have I hurt? Who is waging a private war I will never fully understand? If this film should make the audience more empathetic and caring, then I would say it more than accomplished its mission.

I have written this phrase countless times, but it bears repeating. All films have a thesis. EO wants its audience to ask profound questions about how we treat animals. To varying degrees, it achieves this aim. As an audience member, you will have to wrestle with your response to that thesis. For me, the execution felt heavy-handed and academic. This film can feel as if a finger is being pointed straight at the audience.

Without a doubt in my mind, this is not a perfect movie. It also is not nearly as perfect as I deemed it to be when I first watched it. Taking into consideration the views of my fellow critics, I have many issues with it, but for what it asks me to consider and ponder, I cannot help but admire the effort.

I am proud we have arrived at a point in time where a story such as this can be told. Looking inward, I am proud of myself for my journey of self-acceptance. Based on box office returns, we still have miles to travel, but it should not deter us. Storytelling is how we win these battles.

From every angle, death abounds in this film. Without a doubt, Director Martin Scorsese’s fingerprints are all over this thing. As its last chapter unfolds, you must decide how the ending lands for you. In the end, this movie is not supposed to make you feel good. You aren’t supposed to learn anything. You are supposed to fall back in love with the power of storytelling for the sheer joy of telling stories.

This film surprised me. It taught me more than I expected and made me hungry to learn more. If that was its goal, it was almost a flawless victory.

In the silence and violence of an escalating war between friends, there are many lessons to be found in this film (despite the maddening lengths these men go to make their respective points). We will all question what will remain after we are gone. Almost all of us want to leave something that lasts longer than our name. For me, none of that matters without good friends standing by my side. Despite Colm’s arguments, wonderful friendships can also be a legacy.

I have not spent a lot of time in the world of Bollywood, but I felt its influence and meeting with Western cinema throughout this film (see the end credits). The underlying theme of this film is not a complicated one. It is a love story between a boy and a girl. What makes it a memorable story and something I continue returning to are the cultural details used to paint their relationship from beginning to end. For these revelations, I cannot help but love this story.