Cloud Atlas

Being out of town this week, finally got a chance to see "Cloud Atlas" today, and the intertwining of 6 sets of characters at various points in time, with editing and a screenplay that kept the overall story progressing at a nice clip, so much so that it was one of the quickest 160-minute films I've seen in quite a while. I'll see it again, and I rarely do that these days.

Overall themes of "love and sacrifice", "facing down immorality and sparking revolution", "soul-mates finding one another through time, again and again" were hammered home, but in a way that wasn't too didactic or over-done. The core cast played multiple characters, and some of the make-up working really well, and by the time you stay for the credits to see all the principal actors and photos of each of their characters, you'll have a good laugh at the ones you missed. The trio of the Wachowski siblings and Tom Tykwer worked well in how their segments blended together and supported the overall vision of the film.

I give it 3.5 stars, or a grade of B+.