Roma

Every year there seems to be one or two films that I just cant quite get behind, usually of the "artsy-fartsy" genre. 

Roma seems to be this year's example of that which makes me somewhat sad given how much I adored director Alfonso Cuaron's latest film, Gravity. It even went on to become my #1 film of 2013 and is still one of the most intense experiences I've had in a theater (and in in IMAX 3D no less).

I certainly wasn't expecting Gravity: The Sequel when it was announced that Roma would be Cuaron's latest film, but this is also the same guy that gave us the stupendous Children of Men and one of the better Harry Potter films. He knows how to capture suspense, action, and wrap it all into a worthwhile story. 

Roma is not a bad film. Not by a long shot -- and I'll get to more about what I actually liked about it in a second. But it's a film that I struggled immensely to connect with. Maybe because of personal circumstance, sure, but also because I don't watch films to see mundane, everyday stories. Maybe that's a maturity aspect on my part, but when I'm watching a film or reading a book or watching a TV show I want there to be a reason I'm partaking. What conflict will I be observing? What aspects of it can I attribute to my own life? What growth can I walk away with? 

For these films about the generally-normal, everyday lives of people I'm consistently waiting for the other shoe to drop. I'm waiting for something to be revealed or something (either expected or unexpected) to push the plot forward. But Roma, much like Boyhood and Carol before it, is an example of a film where I was flat-out bored.

I can hear the collective GASP! among many of my critic friends who could be reading this but I try to do my best to call a film like I see it and Roma bored the hell out of both my girlfriend and I, and I imagine it will to many non-movie-buff Netflix viewers. It's 2 hours and 15 minutes -- no small runtime -- outlining the life of a maid to a upper-middle class family in 1970 Mexico. Sure there are some heavy thematic elements pretty much all grouped together in a 15 minute interval, but otherwise her story (and this story as a whole) is unremarkable. Furthermore, it certainly doesn't justify the extended runtime. If I did a high-level bullet point of the entire plot, it would honestly take one skillfully-shot hour-long TV episode to capture it, and this film doubles that. It's here where Roma stands at a disconnect for general audiences while being praised by many other critics as the best film of the year. It's a hard sell: a black and white film, in Spanish, that's over 2 hours long. I was hoping that despite the immediate question I had of "What actually happens in this film?", it would surprise me. Instead I just have an additional descriptor to add onto the hard sell: not much actually happens. 


Outside of Roma being a bore, it's an astoundingly gorgeous film, thanks to Cuaron's talent behind the camera. How much general audiences really appreciate that stuff varies from person to person, but for me it became my main focus once I figured out the story wasn't ever going to pick up. There are a handful of extended tracking shots - one of Cuaron's specialties - and in general the cinematography is outstanding. As the film progressed, I really enjoyed the choice to do it in black and white; it felt like a call back to older films, but with the talent/skill of modern day cinematography. Cuaron always seems to know exactly how he wants to frame his shot - who he wants in it, what angle he wants, how long it should hold - and that's where the true delight of Roma comes in with watching a master at his craft. 

While Roma may be on pace to rack up a bunch of awards this season, it certainly won't be making its way to my Top 10 list. For some I imagine this story is beautiful and inspiring, but for me I found it to be one I didn't connect with and was needlessly dragged out. Like I said, I was bored; but I still found Roma to have such significant technical beauty that I enjoyed my time with it.

CONS

• Probably insensitive, but this did not seem like a story worth telling. There is little conflict or plot 
• Overly long considering the previous bullet. Likely could have been condensed by 50%
• Despite its beauty, it's rather boring

PROS

• The cast is enjoyable and when some of the more thematic elements do hit, they are well captured and respected
• Cuaron is a master director and Roma is no different. It's gorgeous throughout
• Phenomenal cinematography and scene framing
• I loved the black and white; it accentuates the previous bullet more than you might expect

 Rath's Review Score | 7/10