Movie Review: Barry Lyndon (1975)

Barry Lyndon is expertly made, but not all that compelling. It has all of the main problems I tend to have with Stanley Kubrick films. It’s not emotionally moving in any way, and it has a very bad lead performance. But it’s still a good movie.

Kubrick made this movie with no artificial lighting. It’s lit by candles and the sun, basically, and as real as this makes the movie feel, it also limits the actors. The actors are physically limited by the lighting as to where they can actually be during a scene, and it makes everything feel pretty wooden.

And Ryan O’Neal is horribly miscast as the lead. Apparently the only way Kubrick could get this movie made was if he cast one of the two biggest Hollywood stars in the lead: Ryan O’Neal or Robert Redford. While casting Robert Redford would have been a better decision, he’s still not right for the part.

This is an incredibly visually compelling movie. The story, characters, and performances all lack, but I can’t help but marvel at the set design and costumes if nothing else.

Rating: 7/10