That is to say,
where does a film lose you?

This post is inspired by a recent conversation in which somebody said to me that "North By Northwest" was "too slow"?

As the conversation went on,
I learned that the person who made this comment could not become invested in the movie because of how long it took for the action to start.
I explained that the characters were developing, the plot was being laid out, and that all of these things were what made the rest of the movie so great.
I came off really pretentious and the person with whom I was discussing the movie said that all of that caused her to give up on the movie.

Without making this all about "North By Northwest,"
it got me thinking about the common film criticism that movies we don't like are easily and often described as "too slow."

I know that I have described quite a few movies as "too slow," but I also know where my threshold is: If something of consequence hasn't happened after a third of the movie is through, I am probably out.

So where is your cut off?

Are you the kind of person who wants an explosion of action* at the beginning? If so, what are your feelings on films like "The American," which begin with an action scene and let most of the rest of the movie simmer?

Are you the kind of person who can wait out the first act of a film with only the promise of action to come? If so, what is most likely to get you to stay - development of setting, development of characters, comedy, atmosphere (dark, bright, surreal), fill in the blank.

Are you the kind of person who will give a movie till halfway to deliver? Same add on question as above.

Are you the kind of person who sits all (ok, almost all) movies out to the end regardless?

And finally,
how often do you give the films you quit on a second chance, and if you do, do you start them from the beginning of where you left off?


Feel free to answer any of these questions and to add your own thoughts.



* I use "action" throughout rather loosely - I largely mean any onscreen consequence of something we have already learned/seen in the picture. It can be a car chase but it can also be a sideways glance.

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