When one sees all the talent that came together, you'd expect a really good movie. There is a premise with much promise, which was written by acclaimed British screenwriter Peter Morgan, directed by respected director Fernando Meirelles, and features some top acting talent from around the world, notably Anthony Hopkins. It's beautifully photographed in various parts of the world. So why didn't it work? Mainly because no one was given anything interesting to say or do. It's one of those connections movies with an ensemble cast, which had been done so effectively in movies like "Short Cuts" and "Magnolia", and it's hard to say how disappointing this film was. It wasn't a terrible movie, but it's so shallow, uneventful, and mediocre that I spent some two hours just waiting for something interesting to be said. I could have spent two hours at the airport observing various people and come up with something more interesting. As one critic put it, "It's a dull world after all."

This, and the previous few reviews I've looked up, have (sadly) convinced me that IMDb is no longer a credible source for judging 'review scores'.This films absolutely nails it! If you've reached 45yrs old, (as I have), and made a life, and ruined a life...and made others' lives...and ruined others' lives... then your rating is valid. If, aged 45, you choose to rate this film less than 9 then you've wasted your one single life of 45yrs.I haven't wasted mine. I've stared down loaded gun barrels into the cold eyes of drunken robbers. I've loved. I've dashed myself against the madcap rocks of tear-soaked love. I've hurt. I've laughed at those who have been weak enough to dare to dash themselves against my steel resistance...and, in time, life has taught me through my heartfelt pain, my utter, utter, folly.I've had it all whilst blocking what I deep down knew was love. Yes, true friendship survives and matters...but the beating heart of true love has fallen...NO!... been pushed... through my, cursed angry fingers. It is my curse and one I will take to the grave.Every scene in this film is acutely 'spot on'. The acting is without fault. The interwoven lives are 'spot on'. The tale is without fault....as I said, if you rate it less than 9, the weakness is your lack of "life experience". The failure is yours, and yours alone.

Annoying lack of closure: - Pimp, photographer, and blackmailer gets no consequences - Cheating wife gets no consequences - Husband attempts to cheat but gets blackmailed - Blackmailer wins and gets no consequences - Wife of cheating husband nearly raped by rehabbed pervert? Gives old man hope? - Old man never finds daughter? - Rehabbed Pervert's story ends without closure? - Unworthy prostitute gets rich quick? - Prostitute's intelligent sister hooks up with Russian Thug? - Muslim gives up religious beliefs for married woman? - Subtitles in movie are often unreadable as they appear white on white Not a 'feel good' kind of movie... too many loose ends... bad guys win and at least three good guys end up alone and miserable. Five stars for acting. Zero stars for poor storytelling... c'mon a woman (supposedly the brains of the family) jumps into an obvious thug's car because it's raining? This works only if the story is science fiction and plays out on another planet. Yes, think of it as Planet Whatever.

360 is all about circles (hence the title) – the circle of life; circles of deceit; the circles in which people move; the circular nature of actions and consequence… all conveyed by way of a circular narrative. The cast is very strong and it's no surprise that the film is excellently performed across the board. Sadly, the plaudits end there… away from the strength of the acting there's really not much left to admire. Too much pretentiousness, irritating over-editing, an excessively leisurely narrative which doesn't really go anywhere, jerky switches in mood and style – there are simply too many shortcomings for this to be anything more than a minor curio. There isn't a plot to speak of, more a series of mini-plots which interweave from time to time. The one link between the various stories is that they all focus on characters who are wrestling with some sort of relationship problem, be it infidelity between husbands and wives, disapproval regarding the actions of a loved one , or a craving to reconnect with family members who are lost (literally and metaphorically). The film is more interested in characters than story; an unusual approach, yes, and arresting for a while, but ultimately not fulfilling enough to carry it for almost two hours.Director Fernando Meirelles has done some very good films (City Of God, The Constant Gardener for example) so one could be forgiven for expecting big things of 360. Meirelles gets great performances from his actors, as mentioned already, but struggles to mould the unwieldy narrative into any kind of shape. The film is only sporadically effective – a flash of tension here, a well-written line of dialogue there – but overall it drifts along rather tediously, much like a rudderless ship. Between these occasional glimpses of what-might-have- been, the lack of purpose is painfully evident and clumsy efforts are made to disguise it with gimmicky editing and pointless pauses that are presumably meant to be 'deep' and 'meaningful'. These 'interlocking- story' films seem to be becoming increasingly popular of late, so its some relief at least that 360 doesn't go down the horribly schmaltzy route of such unbearable slush-fests as Valentine's Day or New Year's Eve. If nothing else, this film doesn't go in for absurdly pat resolutions wherein everything works itself perfectly and everyone ends up living happily ever after with someone else, which is where these other sickly sweet portmanteau films go wrong. 360 concludes on a hopeful note for some of its characters, but for others things don't work out or, in some cases, they work out only partially and at a price. In the final analysis, 360 is a very average film with delusions of greatness. Watch it for the acting by all means, but if it's a powerful emotional drama you're seeking you'd be better off searching elsewhere.