I'll get the obvious stuff out of the way -- the premise is stupid and the movie knows that it's stupid. You wonder if it'll be anything more than a one-joke movie. Well, sort of. I thought parts of it were really funny - I love Craig Robinson in pretty much anything, Rob Corddry is insane, Crispin Glover's every moment on screen cracked me up. Then there are moments where the jokes and situations are predictable and there's a weird flat energy. But even when some of it doesn't work, it redeems itself over and over with memorable lines.

Liked all the performances and thought it was well-directed, taut and suspenseful throughout. The ending was really clever too. I actually loved that it escalated quickly because I was sure in the beginning that it would slowly lead to the big twist that Olyphant's character figured out in the first 15 or 20 minutes. Allowed the movie to explore more ideas. My only gripes were the usual dumb horror character moves -- "stay here while I go explore..", etc.

Obviously the twist and the entire plot is telegraphed from the first frame of the film. But this is about the characters and the atmosphere, so that doesn't matter.. right? Well, here's a thought: if the twist is irrelevant, don't shoot your movie in the ambiguous, duplicitous, sleight-of-hand style that makes you seem like you're unsure of the source material.

The dream sequences were distracting and dull. The acting was all very mediocre -- even DiCaprio, who I've always thought of as a great, underrated actor, does the same brow-furrowing, paranoid, unstable character from 'The Departed'. It's like his range goes from 'coked up' to 'extremely coked up'. The ending goes on forever.

None of it was thrilling and even in the lone decent scene involving Jackie Earle Haley, every struck match sounds like a thunderstorm. The score is one of the worst major motion picture scores I've heard in ages. Like everything else in this film - it's derivative, deafening, atrocious.

Andrea Arnold combines kitchen sink realism with dashes of Terrence Malick-like scenes of immense beauty. When Mia allows herself to feel, time slows down and sounds and smells and sensations are amplified. She dances and listens to angry rappers because that's what she relates to, but she knows that she's not meant for greater things.

The film both upholds some expectations of what's to come and surprises you with a refreshing lack of missteps and cliches. It doesn't paint a grimy gritty picture of high-rise, low-income Britain, nor does it make poverty beautiful. It is what it is. Unlike the films of the Dardennes and their imitators, when Mia walks, she walks with a purpose. Intense realism doesn't have to mean a focus on the mundane. There is life and energy to every frame here.

Michael Fassbender is once again amazing as Connor. You understand when Connor comes into her mother's life, why Mia pushes him away like she does everyone else but is also attracted to him. The real find is the phenomenal Katie Jarvis as Mia, who storms through every scene in this movie without a lick of conceit. In a world where Jenny from An Education - a rich spoiled brat who dreams of an existence more pretentious than the one she already has - is lauded as a strong female character, here is someone worthy of your attention.

The first moral dilemma has some real world ramifications, although it's a stretch and I think Richard Kelly is far too stupid to have thought of that. Would you make a decision that would benefit you but harm somebody you don't know? Even the explanation for why the Frank Langella character is doing this is somewhat interesting. But the way Kelly goes about this is so laughable. There is nothing remotely unsettling about any of this; just really really silly. James Marsden and Cameron Diaz are completely out of their fucking element. It gets more absurd while continuing to be very dull and slow. And then the other moral dilemma that comes in the last 20 minutes is so dumb, it reminded me of middle school conundrums you'd present your friends about who they'd kill - their mother or father - and they absolutely had to pick one. It makes no sense and the sympathy the director is trying to draw from this nonsensical circumstance is pathetic. Goofiest movie of the year.

Spectacularly rich, gorgeous to look at, incredibly smart and layered in its themes, and evoking (good and bad) feelings of childhood unlike any other movie I've seen in ages. Just thoroughly captivating and beautiful all the way through.