Munich

Pure punishment. Never in my life have I hated a movie this much. The moral confusion of its preachiness. The queasiness of its thriller apparatus. The unredeemed and unredeemable violence. The opaqueness of its characters. The sheer unreality and boredom of it all. Never have I been more reluctant to suspend disbelief. This is not a political but an aesthetic judgment. As to the politics of the situation, my feeling is strictly “seven plagues on both their houses,” so this film’s presumed evenhandedness offends me on both sides. I went into this Best Picture nominee with no preconception, but I found it excruciating from start to finish, neither entertaining nor thought-provoking, both obvious and incomprehensible. All the food and kitchen scenes made me want to puke. As “Avram’s Eleven,” it disgusts me. As “Israeliana,” it leaves me in the dark without a glimmer of light coming from the screen. Hands down, this wins my Worst Picture award. What a waste of the talent involved!(2005, Images, n.) *0* (MC-74, RT-78.)