I was looking forward to the story of a young man who discovers the wonder of making movies and learning about what it meant to him. (To be honest, I was looking forward to a different sort of *Cinema Paradiso*.) And there is that in this movie.

There is also a lot more. Too much more, at least for me. This movie, for me, did not have enough to sustain my interest for 2.5 hours. (For what it's worth, the original version of *Cinema Paradiso* also ran 2.5 hours, but was cut by over 30 min for its successful American release.)

The first parts, until Sam gets involved in shooting film, went on way too long for me.

There were also too many subplots - what Sam discovers about his mother and Uncle Bennie, his relationship with Monica, his dealing with anti-semitism in California - and they received too much time to make for one effective movie, at least for me.

The main theme of the movie, repeated by Uncle Boris and the mother, is that an artist has to follow their heart even over the demands of family. Uncle Boris did that, sort of. The mother did not. But Uncle Boris' life doesn't seem any more fulfilling than the mother's, who reminded me of the middle character in *The Hours*, except not as well written or played as the Julianne Moore character. How the actress, Michelle Williams, got the Oscar nomination over, say, Danielle Deadwyler (for Maimie Till in *Till*) I do not understand.

In short, while there are definitely things to like in this movie, I found it too long for what it was and, in the end, somewhat disappointing.

Others, apparently, saw more in it.