A lot of movies come full circle. The Deer Hunter came full circle, then continued around again. This might have been what made it so special, but it bugged the living hell out of me. Frankly, I didn’t like the film. It was overly drawn-out, I disliked the characters, and the vast majority of this three hour film seemed to go nowhere. What little bits of character development and actual plot that I did like could have been made into a half-hour movie.

I would have stopped watching at about the halfway point, but a) I didn’t know how long it really was, and b) I figured it must have some redeeming value; it won, like, five Oscars.

The characters were afflicted with either drunken stupidity or insane madness; and it’s very easy to confuse the two. Drunken stupidity was played out very thoroughly in the first third of the movie, which was thick with the kind of people that make you want to yell “SHUT THE HELL UP, IT’S THREE A.M. AND YOU JUST WOKE UP MY GODDAMNED BABY!” out your window. Madness was conveyed as a disease where the victim simply doesn’t answer any questions, even though they’re asked over and over and over.

Now, I think I “got” the movie. I don’t feel that any of the intricate points were lost on me. But it really is possible to convey plenty of the things that were conveyed in the movie without the agonizing pauses and slow editing (yes, let’s watch ten minutes of them driving away from the church).

Honestly, my DVD player froze in one scene, and I didn’t notice it for three whole minutes.

Add The Deer Hunter to the small pile of movies that I hated, but everyone else seemed to like. Right on top of Rushmore and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.