Passengers

Directed by Thomas F. Mazziotti, Passengers boasts a series of interviews that were unearthed after sitting in storage since the 1990s. It’s an intriguing premise that is, by and large, employed to woefully underwhelming (and progressively tiresome) effect by Mazziotti, as the emphasis is placed predominantly on stories and anecdotes of a decidedly (and aggressively) inconsequential, middle-of-the-road nature – with, for example, one of Mazziotti’s subjects talking at length about his efforts at finding an anti-depressant that’ll curb his depression (ie it’s just dry, tedious stuff). And while the movie admittedly does contain a very small handful of compelling digressions, including (and especially) an engrossing sequence involving a racist older woman whose worldview is changed within a hair salon, Passengers, which is also saddled with a thoroughly distracting, grating score, primarily comes off as a listless, pointless endeavor doesn’t entirely justify its very existence (ie who cares about these people, mostly).

*1/2 out of ****