Those moments usually get cited quite a bit, so much that it does overshadow what works in the movie (unless you think the film is completely without merit).matrixschmatrix wrote:I think one of the problems with the movie is that there are a few moments which stick in the memory and eventually overwhelm the tone and conception of most of the movie- the ending, the red coat, and the watch speech in particular are all sort of embarrassingly Hollywood clip moments, but I don't think they're at all representative of the overall tone or conception of the film.
I generally have mixed feelings about Spielberg, but I still think Schindler's List and A.I. are his two most interesting works, the ones I would revisit the most. They're far from perfect, but the debates over both films can be compelling because of their flaws, especially when they branch out to the idea of more popular (or I guess populist) cinema and the implications of dealing with material like this within the same parameters of populist filmmaking. (To paraphrase J. Hoberman's question, is it even possible to make a Hollywood film on something like the Holocaust that is wholly successful on both an artistic and commercial level? Of course, if you're Kubrick, the short answer is no.)