Starring: Colin Farrell, Christopher Plummer
Directed by: Terrence Mallick

Here's one of the lesser known movies of 2005 that's worth checking out. I first watched Terrence Malick's work when I saw The Thin Red Line which literally blew me away. It is one of the best war movies ever made and while I can rant about it at length, that review belongs on a different page. It was with great anticipation that I waited for The New World.

The New World is a film that will draw out one of two very powerful emotions: Love or Hate. I really don't believe there is a middle ground in this case. I think it is quite possibly the most beautifully photographed film I have ever seen. It is astonishing. The score from James Horner is, in my opinion, his greatest work. He's a wonderful composer but he has exceeded himself on every level. This is a movie that can be watched like art (because it is) and listened to as a symphony (it might as well be one). Very few movies leave me stunned and The New World is so luscious that I think it is worth the journey, even if it is only to look at how beautiful it is and listen to how glorious it is. Is that a superficial way of looking at things? Perhaps, but they are the film's two most brilliant qualities.

The New World does have problems and I think it falls very much into a 'buyer beware' category. Malick's movie is long – very long – and feels every moment of it. I don't mind these things because I found it enchanting; but many did not.

The New World is very self-indulgent at times. No one can reasonably defend the pace of the film. I want to and I can't. This is a movie so full of substance that it is detrimental. It is so rich and textured that it would be hard to say where things could have been improved, but aside from the first forty minutes which deal largely with the question of whether or not the Europeans can survive the first winter or not, the dramatic 'action,' that is, the engine of a script that pushes one scene into the next, is idling at best. The New World has a plodding pace and it took me on a nice quiet stroll that I enjoyed immensely.
I cannot, in good conscience though recommend to the man on the street that he go to see it. Scenes drift from one to the next – they're stunning and textured and personally I enjoyed them – but they involved a lot of hanging out. Two people hanging out in the woods. I understand that the film has deep meditative and philosophical meanderings about man's relationship with nature and how one impacts the other.

Though I hate having to say anything negative about this movie the movie is not perfect. It is flawed and it would be wrong of me to think otherwise. But its worth watching, so don't wait.
He said / She said: Conscience is a nuisance. A fly. A barking dog.
Watch it if you liked: Apocalypto
Movie Hall of Fame: No
Tagline: Once discovered, it was changed forever