Like a lot of sprawling epics this feels like a greatest hits album. The best parts are near the beginning when the story isn't as spaced out. It's well performed and the story (although straightforward) is engrossing.

James Dean is magnificent in this. Everything else comes up small.

It just didn't have that spark. Shame, my Kumpels seem to love it. Pretty bookends.

I'm sure this movie has some interesting things going for it if you are able to pay attention but I was not.

A bit too epic. I enjoyed it a decent amount as I watched, but I'd probably never do so again. I'll give it credit for being able to fairly successfully pull off such ridiculous melodrama. And the cast turns in good performances; it's especially odd to see Dean in his final role as an aging, broken man..."the last supper," indeed.

Almost four hours long and as wide as a yawn, Stevens's version of Ferber's Texas epic is excessive in every way. By the finish, gray has dusted the black-shoe-polish hair of Hudson, a limp empire-builder, and his little boy has grown up to be Hopper. Too much of the movie trudges along under the assumption that the gradual pileup of events, time, characters, and color will outweigh the vacuity of each individual moment.

First and foremost, a commentary on all things American: racism, patriarchy, classism, greed, waste, (...), exploitation and the ignorance and hypocrisy that holds them all together. The characters and the performances though (Dean and Hudson both are doing their best work here) make this highly enjoyable and a joy to watch from start to finish despite it's lengthy runtime.

Heavy, detailed, and complex. The acting ability to convincingly portray characters over their entire lives remains the highlight of the film. This is probably the only real epic to explore 'Americana'. Very good, but be prepared to use those brain cells to tie up loose ends.

Good only for James Dean. Same as in all of his appearances, he makes his co-stars look retarded.