You have to have experienced a bit of life to really 'get' this film.
I watched this movie when it first came out and it was a snoozefest. Ten years later I watch it again and I understand. Ten years of putting myself through college, getting that dream job, having huge success and experiencing devastating personal failures. Losing a parent, that loss and what it really means, something you don't think about until it happens.
I think this was Cameron's passion project, written after his own father passed. This movie has a unique niche, I can understand why people don't embrace it and why some do.