For me, the difference between cinema and literature is that while the latter is fundamentally about words, the former should tell its story at least as much through visuals and movement as through dialogue. 5 Centimeters Per Second, however, tells its story almost completely through words. You could simply read the script and get the entire story.
For example, the first of the movie's three episodes begins, after a snippet of dialogue, with a series of read letters while you watch their receiver go about his day. The bulk of the episode is a train ride in which his anxiety over train delays is expressed mainly by hearing his thoughts about how anxious he is. Shut your eyes, and you wouldn't miss a bit of story.
You would, admittedly, miss some really stunning animation. This movie is absolutely gorgeous, with stunning backdrops that will take your breath away.
The story itself is moderately interesting, a slice of life contemplation of time and desire and feelings of loss.
But it's very slow. And while the movie has some emotional impact, most of it is contained in a final music video-style piece whose combination of lyrics and images would be almost as effective without the hour of story preceding them.
Most of the people writing reviews here find this movie deeply moving, and I do understand why. The situations are sad, the images are pretty, and a sense of melancholy hangs over the whole thing. But for me, it was too slow, too wordy, and lacked the things that, for me, make film so powerful.
