My high expectations for this film, based on it's awards and nominations, critical acclaim, and general reputation, were ultimately not met as this film that neither revealed anything new about the subject of slavery, nor fulfilled any satisfying sense of interest in or appreciation for the characters.

The original story may or may not have been compromised for this film adaptation, but the dramatic arc seemed to me relatively slight, and the characters and the dialog old and cliché. I felt like "12 Years a Slave" offered little more on the slavery film than had been presented in the past.

I have technical complaints as well. I thought the acting was often over the top. The characters lacked real depth, subtlety, or originality. In life, are people always this one-dimensional?

Also, I never understand the need to place recognizable actors in small roles? It's distracting to see Michael K Williams (of "The Wire" and "Boardwalk Empire") in the film for only about 5 minutes (he had two scenes). Or Brad Pitt, or Paul Giamatti... it just is there to remind me that this is a big financial production and not a story.

Overall, I was simply too distracted by so many bad moments and production details to allow me to forget that this was basically big Hollywood "Oscar-bait".