Goya's Ghosts

I thought this movie was supposed to be a truly great film about art and religious history in a time of war, but it was barely that and just ended up being flat and boring. There was so much left to the imagination, too. There wasn't enough time given for proper character development of any of the characters except Brother Lorenzo's, and all I got was that he was a selfish, lying pervert. Natalie Portman's crazy lady portrayal was pretty good, but I didn't get why she even had to still be alive after 15 years in prison. She played two characters, a mother and her own daughter. If they had killed her off as the mother and then just brought in her daughter to rouse things with Lorenzo after his character changed then I think it would have led to a more interesting, dramatic story and ending. And actually, the amount of time they focus on Goya seems to be correct, but I didn't get much from Stellan Skarsgard's acting. I didn't feel the emotion and intensity that I think he should have possessed, that went into his art.

I fast-forwarded through a lot of the boring parts which there were a lot of, and it was bearable. The ending reassured me that I officially wasted my time. Unless you are a die hard fan of Javier Bardem or Natalie Portman, don't see it.