I love the performances by mostly everyone, and the score is just superb, but the plot is just so incomprehensible in my opinion, for the most part i had no clue what was going on, it was so tightly written and intricate, it was really hard to follow.
I cant give this movie higher than a 6/10, because that does take away the enjoyment factor.
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Of course you're not going to like a movie if you don't understand what's going on... unless you just enjoy watching moving pictures and listening to sound effects in a collection of random scenes.
Anyways, I disagree. It was purposely made to be a thinking mans movie. No overtly expository dialogue, it was just clear enough to convey a sense of realism and at the same time give you an understanding. I was a little unclear on a few things for the first hour or so, but the way it unravels and subtly reveals the details without being obvious made it that much more enjoyable. It's like you're with the characters in the movie, discovering and figuring things out as they happen.
It's not a movie to put on in the background. But I firmly believe that if you pay attention the first time, there's no reason why you shouldn't have a complete understanding by the end of the movie.
It's taken me a bunch of times to work through the entire plot, all the details and nuances and I still find myself questioning and thinking about things.
I think you have to kind of compartmentalize the movie to clear up the plot and different subplots. Everything centers around Michael's world. Arthur is the catalyst at this specific point in Michael's life when everything seems to be coming apart. You have:
Michael's personal life - He's basically having a mid-life crisis. He invested money into a bar with his alcoholic/drug abusing brother and lost all of his money. He owes $75K to people you don't want to be in debt to.
He invested the money to try and move away from his current career as a firm's "fixer" - a job he doesn't particularly like or think highly of.
He's divorced and gets his son on weekends, but doesn't do the typical father/son stuff, yet tries to get to know and understand him the best he can.
He doesn't see the rest of his family enough and takes heat from his bigger brother, a police officer.
He's also a recovering gambling addict.
Michael's professional life - His law firm is currently in negotiations to merge with a larger firm in London, which makes him uneasy given his role. He doesn't think his new bosses will understand what he does or won't have a need for him, so he could be out of a job pretty soon.
There's also the uNorth case, which if it goes bad based on Arthur's condition or actions, could dissolve the firm completely after a malpractice suit and would also kill the merger deal.
You then have the crossover with Arthur. Arthur's a friend who works at the firm and is handling the biggest case with the biggest client, goes nuts and is putting the firm's existence at risk. Michael has to figure out how to get Arthur under control, back to work, and keep uNorth at bay while doing so.
And through all that, he's still doing his regular job, "fixing" things like the Westchester big shot who's involved in a hit and run in the middle of the night.
First time I saw it, I knew it was really good, but it took several viewings before I understood it.
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