Direction, score, and cinematography each deserve their own individual flowers in a film where I never once felt its three-and-a-half-hour runtime. As I mentioned last night, what a picture. Goodness.

The first half of the film is impeccable; some of the best stuff I’ve seen in some time. The second half is really good and I don’t think it brings down the movie at all. It’s just that the first half of the film is so good and impossible to match when the film continues.

At the center of this story who tries to balance both of these things is Adrien Brody’s László, a prime example of an imperfect human in a performance that may very well land the actor his second much-deserved Oscar here in a few months.

Thank you for doing us a solid and giving our regional critics group access to the film before we vote, Focus.

I love Timothée (and in this house we call him HIMothée). He’s one of our bright hopes for the future of cinema. But his performance in A COMPLETE UNKNOWN is just good - not awards-worthy.

😂😂😂