Song to Song appears to be another Terrence Malick film in which is described more as "art and an experience" rather than a typical film. Similar to Knight of Cups, containing the same type of elements in its filming, with much close ups of the actors faces, off screen dialogue in narration and scenes of the visuals of the outdoors, or clubs, artwork, Song to Song doesn't offer much of anything different. This film is longer though does offer more characters and doesn't seem as pretentious compared to Knight of Cups. Lead by Rooney Mara, Ryan Gosling and Michael Fassbender, they seem to do a decent job given the description. Though overall, this film becomes quickly boring as not much of anything plot wise occurs. It does feel more like one of those artists/musicians documentaries showcasing artists gatherings and such rather than a feature length film, and we can see as to why this film was panned and movie audiences didn't seem to enjoy it as such. As a film, this was disappointing and perhaps Malick needs a new direction.

At first I did not realize it was Malick, and after a few minutes I thought, "Terence Malick wannabe." Then I read the credits. Oh. Oops. It's sad when a brilliant director looks like a wannabe of himself.After half an hour of watching Rooney Mara drift aimlessly across whatever scenery she was in, wearing the exact same expression no matter what, looking too sensitive to live, wafting this way and that without purpose or intention, drooping over balconies and at windows and in chairs, ducking her head as if expecting to be smacked, avoiding eye contact, clutching a strand of hair to her lips, casting doe eyes at everyone from passers-by to her own father, as the camera swoops and swivels, I gave up. I like Malick, I loved some of his earlier movies, as incoherent as some of them have been. But this was just annoying. I wanted to smack her. You have these great actors floating aimlessly through a completely untethered series of images and scenes with annoyingly and pointlessly restless cameras and random cuts to other equally random scenes. I could not even begin to give a spoiler alert, for that would imply that there is a plot, or a story, or a thread of narrative, however tenuous.

Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling and Natalie Portman are such seasoned actors that they could convincingly walk around for three hours without any purpose or direction and still sell a story. Rooney Mara on the other hand (try as I may each time to look past the privileged life that gave her a Hollywood career and believe whatever it is she is trying to convey to me) just didn't cut it as the lead actress, she just gave off an aura that she was uncomfortable the whole time which just seemed to confirm that there was indeed no script or that hers was just constantly being revised and shared with no one else but her. When even Cate Blanchett in her blink-and-you'll-miss-her cameo is Oscar-worthy compared to a film's lead actress, there is a problem.

..this film is a prime example why you should never watch a movie any other way than streaming.. ..over your lifetime you'll save HUGE amounts of precious time.....at 129 minutes in length... if you jump every couple minutes or so... in 60 clicks you can pretty much view this entire thing.. ..and will not have missed very much in the process....loads of hi-end talent gone to waste in this muddled production.. with a script.. well there really isn't much of one... ...just loads of edited 'artistic' filming... can easily see why it took years to put together after shooting.... it will probably still make money.. as die-hard fans will be keen to roll the dice.. most will not be thrilled..