Barry Lyndon

Based on the novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon follows Ryan O’Neal’s title character as he bumbles and connives his way through a series of misadventures in the 18th century – with the narrative detailing Barry’s humble beginnings as a soldier through to his ascension within the English aristocracy. Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick has, rather infamously, infused Barry Lyndon with an incredibly potent and thoroughly memorable sense of style, with the movie’s often jaw-dropping visuals, courtesy of cinematographer John Alcott, proving effective at sustaining one’s interest even though its more palpably unsuccessful stretches (of which there are many, ultimately). It’s just as clear, however, that the picture remains wholly unable to justify its disastrously overlong running time of 185 minutes (!), as Kubrick, working from his own screenplay, delivers a meandering midsection that’s riddled with padded-out and pointedly needless sequences – with the decidedly (and continuously) far-from-engrossing atmosphere exacerbated by O’Neal’s often stunningly weak performance (ie the actor delivers a bland and thoroughly forgettable turn entirely devoid of charisma or presence). The arms-length, sluggish vibe is eventually alleviated by a final third that, quite unexpectedly, boasts a number of admittedly electrifying sequences (eg Barry’s duel with a long-standing rival), which finally does cement Barry Lyndon‘s place as a maddeningly hit-and-miss drama that’s all-too-often far more miss than it is hit.

** out of ****