MUNICH / SYRIANA

I SAW THESE TWO MOVIES BACK TO BACK AND I WAS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT THEM. I WAS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT A MOVIE REVIEW. THEN IT DAWNED ON ME, I DON'T REVIEW MOVIES, I REACT TO THEM.
MY REACTION IS THAT BOTH MOVIES ARE WELL MADE. BOTH ARE WATCH-ABLE;
NEITHER ONE REALLY MOVED ME. THEY SHOULD HAVE, ALL THE MATERIAL WAS THERE, ALL THE EMOTIONAL DIALOGUE AND SITUATIONS WERE THERE. A TOP NOTCH CAST WAS IN PLACE IN BOTH FILMS.
BUT I WAS NOT MOVED BY EITHER ONE. JUST MINUTES AFTER SEEING MUNICH, I WAS LOOKING AT THE JACKIE ROBINSON STORY ON DVD, STARRING JACKIE ROBINSON
AND RUBY DEE, CIRCA 1952 - AND I HAD TEARS IN MY EYES; THIS HAD TO BE THE 80th PLUS TIME I HAVE SEEN THIS OLD BLACK AND WHITE ( NO PUN INTENDED ) BIO-PIC.
MUNICH HAD THE HUMAN TRAGEDY AND THE SADNESS, BUT I THINK IT WAS LAID OUT SO SMOOTHLY, THAT THE EMOTION WAS DRAINED AWAY BY THE TECHNIQUE - IT WAS TOO SLICK, TO WELL OILED, IT TOUCHED ALL THE BASES ( NO PUN INTENDED ) AND THIS WAS THE WEAKNESS TO ME. I WAS BEING TAKEN FOR A WELL PLANNED RIDE AND I DIDN'T HAVE TO GET INVOLVED TO END UP WHERE THE FILM WAS TAKING ME.
IT IS AN EXCELLENT FILM AND EVERYONE SHOULD TRY TO SEE, IT -- I JUST DIDN'T REACH MY NORMAL LEVEL FOR THE SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF THAT ALL MOVIES REQUIRE TO SOME DEGREE - THE ACCEPTANCE OF SUPERMAN FLYING OR SHAFT GETTING SHOT IN THE CHEST SEVERAL TIMES, BUT BEING HEALED IN A FEW HOURS BY THE LOVE OF A GOOD WOMAN. WITH BOTH THESE CURRENT FINE FILMS, I NEVER JOINED IN -- I REMAINED OUTSIDE, LOOKING IN AT THE PLOT.
THEY ARE BOTH GOOD FILMS, BUT I NEVER GOT ON BOARD --- JUST AS WITH THE THREE LORD OF THE RINGS FILMS, I NEVER GOT INTO THEM AND YET, I KNOW THEY MUST HAVE BEEN EXCELLENT FILMS TO GARNER THE PRAISE THEY HAVE RECEIVED.
SYRIANA IS SHOT LIKE TRAFFIC & CRASH - ALL THE PIECES ARE FLYING ABOUT YOU AND YOU HAVE TO PULL TOGETHER AS MUCH AS YOU CAN -- AND YOU CAN MISS A LOT OF PIECES AND STILL FOLLOW THE STORY TO A DECENT DEGREE.
STILL, I WAS UNINVOLVED AND NEVER JOINED IN.
I FIND IT STRANGE TO SAY THE FILMS WERE GOOD, BUT NEVER REACHED ME EMOTIONALLY - BUT THAT IS THE CASE.