I went into this one essentially blind. I knew nothing about it except it was a Francis Ford Coppola film and it came and went without much fanfare. The only other post-70's Coppola movies I've seen are RUMBLE FISH and GODFATHER III so I really didn't even have the slightest idea of what I might be in for. But I pretty much liked it. A little cliché, a little self-important, but nonetheless a reasonably compelling family drama. I thought the three main performers -- Vincent Gallo, Alden Ehrenreich and Maribel Verdu -- were quite good, especially Verdu. Gallo's brooding gets rather tiresome, but he varies it enough to keep the character interesting. As in RUMBLE FISH, Coppola shoots in black and white with occasional bits of color, and the photography is really quite stunning at times. Although it is funny that the effects in the TALES OF HOFFMANN sequences are less convincing than the film that inspired them, nearly 60 years earlier. The themes of rivalry and daddy issues aren't the most original thing in the world, but there are one or two surprises to be had. Not a great film, but you can feel the passion in it.

This not-particularly-involving-drama is well-cast and has a rather good script but Francis Ford Coppola has done his best work now. It doesn't help that he tries to articulate emotional episodes 'through the medium of dance' in sequences that don't measure up to the ballets already name-checked, The Red Shoes being the obvious elephant in the room.The narrative has a considerable twist towards which it can wind up. Unfortunately, the breezy manner in which the characters circle one another, combined with the coming-of-age/road trip sensibility of the film (the beautiful Maribel Verdú of car-trip flick Y Tu Mamá También overbalances the story occasionally) mean that we have as hard a time believing the reveal as the disabused principal.The wonderful Klaus Maria Brandauer is wasted. I always enjoy watching Vincent Gallo and his performance is excellent - I kept asking myself why he seemed rather more 'on the leash' than elsewhere. However, his work is also boxed ineffectively in the final showing. 4/10

A young boy, Bennie (Alden Ehrenreich), a waiter on a cruise ship that is temporarily down for repairs in Buenos Aries, takes the opportunity to call on his older brother Tetro (Vincent Gallo) who has exiled himself in Argentina to escape some bad things in his past. Tetro wants nothing to do with his family, including Bennie; initially he even refuses to come out of his room to meet him. Through a complicated set of events, the estranged Tetro finally comes to the inevitable reconciliation with Bennie. In the process we get details about why Tetro has taken the path that he has.Tetro's girlfriend Miranda is played by Maribel Verdu in a consistently appealing performance. At times I thought that Ehrenreich may be destined to be the next great young actor, but at other times he seemed like a teenager just reading his lines. I do think we are going to see more of this attractive actor. In the spirit of full disclosure I have to admit that my comments on this movie are biased by a visceral dislike of Vince Gallo. Gallo plays Tetro as a most unlikeable character. Throughout the movie I puzzled as to why either Bennie or Miranda would hang around Tetro, given his fits of temper and general unpleasant behavior. Klaus Maria Brandauer, as Tetro's father in flashbacks, plays the role of an egocentric and manipulative symphony orchestra conductor to the hilt.The story becomes more absurd and implausible as the movie goes along. Are we to believe that Bennie takes the scrawls of Tetro, that have to be read backwards with a mirror, and turns them into a prize-winning play? Why does Tetro wait until he does to reveal his true relationship to Bennie? And in such a melodramatic manner? And what was with the all-powerful cultural critic named "Alone?" On the one hand we are told that Alone had impeded Tetro's career because of her criticisms, but on the other hand we are told that Tetro had never published. How does one criticize what has never existed?Filming the flashbacks in color (using what appears to be a faded red filter) is an interesting touch. Most of the flashbacks are operatic in nature, and some effects left me speculating about their relevance, like the one scene that starts out with dancers on a stage and then has an ocean lapping onto stage left. Nice effect, but what is the meaning of it? This could easily be staged as a play and the way the movie is filmed reminded me a lot of the filming of "A Streetcar Named Desire." And there are elements of imitating "8 1/2" as well, particularly the way that Alone and her entourage are filmed.As a lover of black and white, I found the excellent use of that medium in this movie a pure delight, but in the end I was less than enthusiastic about the film in general.

A young boy Bennie comes to Buenos Ayres to meet his older brother who ran from New York long time ago. To his surprise Bennie finds out that he is unwelcome. The present is shown in black and white but flashbacks are in colour – they are shown to us as if characters watch films of their past on a small screen, many flashbacks are superb ballet scenes. Everything goes excellently and I thought that Francis Ford Coppola made another great drama but in the last six minutes or so he managed to spoil everything with incongruent razzamatazz so all the movie began to look like a fraud. And by the way the novel they were writing judging by the fragments is crap.