DVD Review: 360

By Danny R. Phillips

On paper, 360 looks like a good idea; much as I am sure, The Bay of Pigs Invasion looked like an ideal, foolproof military action. Well, neither one of these endeavors worked out very well.

All the pieces are there for a potentially great film. The writer of Frost/Nixon (Peter Morgan), decent director (Fernando Meirelles) and a cast that boasts great actors like Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, and the too-often-overlooked Ben Foster.

360 is a film that tries to show how seemingly unconnected things are, in fact, related. Everything is related in one way or another despite geography, sex, or belief. It is a gallant effort but falls short. Anthony Hopkins is a driven, possessed father looking for a missing daughter; Jude Law is dying in a marriage-gone-cold with Rachel Weisz playing the part of the distant, closed off wife. There is also a dentist with a romantic side; these are four characters and screenwriter Morgan is just getting started.

There is just too much going on in 360; there are too many convoluted storylines to follow and keep straight, too many characters and details to care about. One should not have to work so hard to like a movie. Movies are supposed to take you out of a moment and send you somewhere other than your everyday life.

360 does not do any of that. It is just a frustrating mess with quality players that could have turned out well but instead it is just a big, waste of time.

360 was released on November 6 by Magnolia Home Entertainment. The special features include a Making Of documentary, a behind the scenes picture-in-picture comparison, a featurette from AXS TV, and the trailer.