I could only stomach about 10 minutes, so I give it the benefit of the doubt, two stars rather than one.

What a movie! Spare, elegant, fantastic acting from Nicole Kidman, and a horrifying, queasy plot. It's amazing to me how Lars von Trier's stripped away so many of the canons of what we expect from a film, and still made something incredibly fresh and vivid. It just works! I'm amazed that it does, but it does. To me, that's mastery.I also loved the casting, think everybody in the cast was just right for the role. Paul Bettany, Stellan Skarsgård, Chloë Sevigny, everybody got a chance to just act, and to me the subtlety and power of getting to focus on the actors and their body language and faces was brilliant. Loved it!Finally the writing and plot. To me it felt like every word was just right. John Hurt's narration as well. I think for me really liking the cast, plus a super original take on sets and lighting, plus a beautifully written scrip, just made it all come together in a very compelling way. Must watch and recommend!

It's Depression era Dogville which lies at the end of the road to an abandoned silver mine in the Rocky Mountains. Tom Edison (Paul Bettany) hears a gun shot and then finds Grace (Nicole Kidman) on the run from some gangsters. Tom hides her in the mines and then tries to convince the town to protect her. Most are skeptical and Grace does chores for the people. They eventually accept her into their town but the ugliness eventually grows.This is a highly experimental theatrical experience. The set is more like a play. The buildings have no walls and things are often represented by written labels on the ground. It sets the movie feeling fake. I also don't like the constant narration. This is something deliberate which detracts from the enjoyment. It accentuates the fakeness of this morality play. It's also way too long. The good aspect is Kidman and the other great actors. In addition, the movie has a point and it makes it with surety. This is an unique film and not an enjoyable one.

Nothing quite like being beaten over the head with a trite morality play for three hours, with such naked and ham-handed emotional manipulation that I couldn't find a pinch of humanity inside.This was basically torture porn for overly emotionally invested people. I give it a few points for going out on a limb with the style, but again, it just feels like something a very high college student would come up with the day before the script was due. And it was a one-trick pony, the sense of style was never used effectively for anything else. It contributed absolutely nothing to the movie.The acting was fine, just terribly dull. Never felt the slightest connection to anyone, or felt that any situation was any more than a ridiculous farce; everything happened not because it naturally follows from the characters and events, but because it had to happen to move the plot forward. Everyone but Grace is basically a hive mind who feel everything in perfect lockstep with each other, like a good fable. The brutality followed the generic revenge flick arc trod by hundreds of other movies, even the narrator just felt utterly pointless and jarring, instead of quaint and unusual.Obviously, there are quite a few people who love it. Give it five minutes, and you'll already know if you'll enjoy the whole movie or not.