This movie is as subtle as a sledgehammer. Hmmm. Business Bad. Government Good. The characters were one dimensional; the plot cliche; the direction ham fisted. Surely this must be a low point for Tim Robbin's directorial career. "Bob Roberts" and "Dead Man Walking" were entertaining and complex. "Cradle Will Rock" is vacuos and vapid.
Was Tim Robbins trying to do a Robert Altman-type movie where several discrete plot lines are all somehow inter-related. Afterall, Robbins did star (if any one could have starred in the movie) in "Short Cuts." However, in that film, Altman did manage to give each segment a plot and show how it all fits together. What does Nelson Rockefeller have to do with Orson Wells? The Susan Sarandon character with the play? Nothing!
Even more annoying is that after the film, everybody walks away exactly the same. Nobody learns anything; nobody is changed. (Except Bill Murray....and that was so contrived). For a film with such a powerful "message" this is rather ironic: The message in my movie is so strong and powerful that nobody in my movie even gives a d--n. It is not a warning to others because the last scene shows a vibrant, prosperous Broadway.
On a final note: This is a movie and not a documentary. However, it is generally understood that Nelson Rockefeller opposed the destruction of the mural; his father was the driving force behind the destruction. See almost any bioraphy on the Rockefeller family.
Was Tim Robbins trying to do a Robert Altman-type movie where several discrete plot lines are all somehow inter-related. Afterall, Robbins did star (if any one could have starred in the movie) in "Short Cuts." However, in that film, Altman did manage to give each segment a plot and show how it all fits together. What does Nelson Rockefeller have to do with Orson Wells? The Susan Sarandon character with the play? Nothing!
Even more annoying is that after the film, everybody walks away exactly the same. Nobody learns anything; nobody is changed. (Except Bill Murray....and that was so contrived). For a film with such a powerful "message" this is rather ironic: The message in my movie is so strong and powerful that nobody in my movie even gives a d--n. It is not a warning to others because the last scene shows a vibrant, prosperous Broadway.
On a final note: This is a movie and not a documentary. However, it is generally understood that Nelson Rockefeller opposed the destruction of the mural; his father was the driving force behind the destruction. See almost any bioraphy on the Rockefeller family.