A review of this movie could easily evolve into a full fledged essay about school shootings in America, but we will have to consider that this is a work of art, a fictional depiction and not a documentary or, god forbid, a blueprint. The most disturbing aspect of the movie is the shallowness, carelessness and totally unempathetic way the perpetrators go about in preparing and then executing their hideous act with the support of a society in which mail order guns are a normality. Probably nobody goes unprepared into a sitting of this film since otherwise it would be difficult to understand why we would need to follow a bunch of high school kids going about their chores in a typical, if not mediocre high school setting with the cliques, weirdo's and good kids that have become the cliche's of American high school cinema. Of course that all changes when the shooting starts. For dramatic effect all kids that we had just gotten to accept for their juvenile awkwardness are popped off like rats in an abandoned house basement with a BB gun. Except it was an AR-15, which was then and since the tool of choice for instant infamy. Anger wells in this reviewer when considering the reason for inclusion of a dose of 'German weirdness' in the form of old Hitler footage and Beethoven sonata's as a hint of foreign influence to such atrocities instead of the innate sickness of American society. Nevertheless Gus van Sant could have followed the simple rule that movies that include the Moonlight Serenade are statistically more likely to attract higher review scores. Casting a final verdict on the movie should include the consideration if we learned anything, is it food for thought? When thinking about the fact the impact of the movie doesn't allow for a quick and snappy soundbite that the answer must be yes, it's highly disturbing, if this is how it is, it is terrible.

What was supposed to be serious movie showing us the reality of a school shooting (presumably Columbine) ended up being mostly very boring and repetitive with some sequences even being unintentionally hilarious (the shower scene especially). Parts of it are very cheesy E.g. the scene where Alex plays the piano, the kiss scene, the three bulimic girls and the fact that the main characters room has a picture of and elephant both on the wall and the bed throw.The acting is terrible, the ways the director tries to immerse us into the story are very obvious and obviously not working. You could walk in an hour into the movie and not miss any important information. The movie, aside from trying to tackle the problem of school shooting and general violence, also takes n numerous problems of young people, including eating disorders, low self- esteem, parent's alcoholism and teenage pregnancy. The intent is very noble and i get what he was trying to do but i find the execution very disappointing, especially for a film tackling such an important topic.

I'm going to give this a two because it is really unbelievably bad. It's not in the same category of bad I would put other best/worst movies I am a fan of. The closest comparison I can make is the opening scene of Birdemic where the camera shows a car driving for an extended period of time while depressing music playing. Then it cuts to a short scene of walking. The amount of walking and panning in Elephant was excessive. I was constantly pausing and checking the clock to see how much longer. If I watched it repetitively like I have Airplane I might be able to catch something subtle I've missed but I don't have the heart or the time. I have trouble submitting reviews because I know people put their hearts and souls into making movies and who am I to criticize. But I felt I had to. With that said, the characters are cliché. I know the event depicted is of a serious nature and feel the characters should not have been reduced to a sort of Breakfast Club derivative.

Seriously. I didn't read any summary at all because I like going into films blind, and so I didn't know what this would turn into. Basically, follow several characters for an hour so when they start getting killed you care for them. I've never seen another film do this sort of thing in such a sheerly infuriating way. Films like this can either work of fall flat, or can work in its aim and make you still hate them. I guess Van Sant succeeded, but that doesn't mean it's good filmmaking. It just feels like blatant exploitation, one of the biggest instances of emotional manipulation that I've ever seen. I feel like this could've been done in a way that was still impactful without going for cheap shocks, and this does go for them. If you want proof, just look at the Benny scene near the end. I'm sure many love this or admire it, but I can't. Something about it is cruel, and it extends beyond what's just on screen. I cannot dismiss it entirely though, since it succeeded in getting under my skin... but at what cost?