Too much of everything

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

This film had decent potential with an academy award winning director and a decent cast with Keanu and Bridget Fonda but it ultimately failed. Although it did provide some decent and clear information on the life of Buddha it was just outshone by how bad the script was. It was as if a 10 year old had written it, the screenplay just seemed totally out of sync the lines seemed forced and it created no emotion what so ever. The actor playing dean was absolutely horrible he had no sense of emotion at all, at times he was like a robot stuck on repeat just droning on and on he brought no emotion to his character when emotion was needed. I have to say the screenwriters were pretty poor on this film and Bernardo did the best he could with some interesting camera angles but the script he was given was horrible. With out a doubt in my opinion the worst performance of Keanus career, I would say if you can look past the modern day story and just specifically look on the life of Buddha and get past the bad script and acting then you might actually enjoy it but ultimately for me i did not.

The biggest problem with Bernardo Bertolucci's 'Little Buddha' is that he establishes an intriguing idea and then doesn't know what to do with it. Here's the idea: In Seattle an American couple is approached by two Buddhist monks who drop in their lap the idea that their son might, just might be the reincarnation of their teacher.The movie is a long series of arguments by unwritten characters. This fascination idea is given more of a simple brush off. Most of the important scenes don't take place on screen and there is no emotional conflict to retain our interest.Intercut with this story is the story of Prince Siddhartha who sat under a tree for seven year and later became the Buddha. His journey is much more interesting but it raises more questions then it answers especially if your knowledge of Buddhist history is not so good 'Little Buddha' is two stories but they both seem half-finished. For those of us who enjoyed 'The Last Emperor' another Bertolucci film about a boy with greatness on his shoulders this one comes off rather stale.

I must admit it: I'm a sucker for fantasy, historic and religious films: be it „Lord of the Rings", „The Bible" or „Conan the Barbarian", I rarely let one pass me by, and so I was pulled into the cinema to see "Little Buddha". In retrospect, the money could have been spent better.The Buddhist faith has always seemed to inspire faith-seeking westerners; after all: the Dalai Lama seems an amiable chap, Richard Gere has done his share in promotion-work and, let's be honest here: the religion has inspired far less war, genocide and general mayhem than other so-called world-religions. However, I cannot imagine many Buddhists being very happy with having Bertolluci turn their faith into a fairy-tale for jaded Westerners. What would Hindus have thought, had James Cameron turned the Bhagadvad Gita into a 3D action flick? Bertolluci is a very good director, no doubt about it. Unfortunately, he's also a director who takes himself a little too serious at times. Rather than relying on his talent, he tends to ham it up for the greater effect. Why rely on the story and the actors, if you could simply add a more impressive sound and extra color, is the question that Betolluci must have asked himself as he was filming. In essence, that's the difference between good directors like Bertolluci and Coppola, and brilliant directors like Werner Herzog.Now, having mentioned the word "ham", we must now speak of protagonist Keanu Reeves. If the Buddhist ideas of reincarnation are correct, chances are good that Keanu Reeves will be reborn as a ham-sandwich. I clearly recall how the entire cinema broke out in laughter, when Reeves opened his mouth for the first time in "Bram Stokers Dracula", trying to imitate an English accent. When Reeves tried his good luck at an Indian accent, nobody in the cinema was laughing, presumably out of embarrassment. Just my neighbor mumbled the famous Peter Sellers line: "Birdy num-num", summing up all that must be said about Reeves "performance" (and almost causing me to soil my pants). By the end of the film I was thinking about the Islamic creed, which prohibits their prophet from being depicted or heard on any medium."Little Buddha" would have greatly benefited from a similar policy.3/10 points because it pains me to give a good director like Bertolluci any less (even though, in the case of "Little Buddha", he would probably have deserved it). Plus, we probably have to thank Bertolluci for making this film before M. Night Shyamalan could get his hands on it (casting himself in the leading role, naturally).

I don't understand all the haters. This movie was understated and calm because of the subject matter, so what did everyone expect from these actors? Drama? This is an anti-drama film. It's about the birth of Buddhism. And Keanu was delightful as Siddhartha. In fact, from what I read about Keanu Reeves, the person, it is my understanding that he is a lot like this character: polite, soft spoken, sensitive, generous, and highly intelligent, all attributes of an enlightened person. And for those who criticize the acting of Bridget Fonda, having watched most if not all her films, it occurs to me that Ms. Fonda has her own style of acting, which is very understated and natural. She is usually cast in roles that don't showcase her talents, but if anybody ever doubts her abilities, or her versatility, they should watch a film she made where she played an assassin, or an abused wife. In this film, she played a little boy's mother very believably. I do agree Chris Isaak was miscast as her husband. For one thing, Bridget Fonda and Chris Isaak strongly resemble one another and could easily be brother and sister. And Chris Isaak is very wooden in the delivery of his lines, making Ms. Fonda's job more difficult. I found the cinematography beautiful, the music beautiful, and the costumes beautiful. This is my second viewing of the film and I really enjoyed it.