I am becoming quite a fan of Stanley Kubrick. I have always liked A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket, and Dr. Strangelove, so I’ve been viewing some of the other things he’s done. The Shining was good, 2001: A Space Odyssey was good, and Eyes Wide Shut was meh.
So for Father’s Day I got Barry Lyndon, which stars Ryan O’Neal as the title character. I knew going into it from reading reviews that this movie was slow-paced, so being forwarned was helpful. Being mentally ready for the slower pace, I spent the movie doing what Kubrick (presumably) wanted me to do as the viewer: taking it all in. It was like the Rhine River ride at Busch Gardens–a nice way to slow down and enjoy the view.
Not that the movie was all eye candy. The acting was quite good (I had never seen Ryan O’Neal do anything worth watching before), the character development was subtle, and the storyline, while meandering, also was not entirely predictable (always a plus). The biggest problem I had with the movie was the music — that infernal Handel theme over and over and over.
But the movie (like the Handel theme) is stuck in my head days after watching it. Three stars.
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