Since I've never been a fan of Steven Spielberg's movies, starting with "E. T.", I debated if I should go ahead and spend $6 to rent this film, or wait until it became free to stream at Amazon or elsewhere. It looked like a movie I would really like, though, so I decided to get it this weekend. That turned out to be a mistake.

This dull film drags so badly, one would swear it lasted five hours instead of two and a half. The biggest drag was Michelle Williams. I certainly hope Mr. Spielberg didn't think he was portraying his mother in a sympathetic way. His high school years seemed as unreal as unreal could be, too. It was like watching a really bad high school and beach party movie combined.

The film reminded me of poorly written memoirs, where the memoirists could not care less if their reading audience liked their book or even understood it. No, the most important thing was for them to tell their childhood story exactly how they wanted to tell it. Steven Spielberg obviously tells his childhood story in this movie exactly how he wanted to tell it. I hope at least he's happy with it. Personally, I would like my $6 back.