Aloha

Written and directed by: Cameron Crowe

Starring: Alec Baldwin, Bill Murray, Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, John Krasinski and Danny McBride.

Terribly Tiring Time-taker

Cameron Crowe does amazing movies. However, ‘Aloha’ is not one of them. Still great but knowing this is a Cameron Crowe film knowing what he is capable of a lot more was expected of him. This movie deserves a 5/10 because it is an average movie. Not bad or good just plain particularly with the pacing. It is definitely dreadful to be as dull as it is.

This movie lacked depth, coherency and creativity. The movie is just a mismatched mesh of gibberish pseudo-philosophical romantic notions. The plot’s passé and archaic that is far from romantic. It is really tragic and not in a ‘titanic’ sort of way but more of a pathetic or poor attempt. The movie’s heart is in the right place but it is just disorganized and feels some parts were left out whether on purpose or not.

This movie passes many ideas while not fully grasping them. It is trying to be too many things at once in a forced unnatural way. It needed have a better story line that is less predictable and not filled with nonsense irrelevant Hawaiian mythology and shallowly presented patriotism.

That is just to appear light hearted and deep as if without trying. This movie was anything but subtle, but could have been. Cameron Crowe created the organic, effortless ‘Almost Famous’. Then later on he created, ‘We bought a Zoo’ so he will surely redeem himself in many movies to come.

Confused characters that make no sense in an odd miscast, love-triangle. The love does not seem real or even present. As if the lines are just memorized and are just said with no emotion or if there is an angry seen there is no remorse, which makes it like the characters are forced to be there and not that they want to be there. That combination of love-hate was even missing from that clichéd plot and the writing is redundant. This makes it difficult to understand and even sit through this movie.

For a movie about Hawaii it sure is missing a lot of Hawaiian elements. The meaning of ‘Aloha’ is not portrayed during this movie that lacked what it means to be Hawaiian it is just a poor portrayal coming from non-natives. The title should have been ‘land of one’ yet still that would be irrelevant.

A movie about Hawaii must show more about Hawaiian people. Emma Stone should have been cast as an Expat or something not one-quarter Hawaiian. Had the word ‘Ohana’ been explained there would have more meaning to the movie as a whole rather than the random Hawaiian folklore that is continuously represented through a child. Pearls of wisdom from the young are a bit of a stretch if not far-fetched.