Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas (2012) starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess. Cloud Atlas is really six (or seven) movies in one, all interwoven through time by the fact that the same actors appear as different characters in different time periods. The action skips back and forth in time, from 1849 to the distant future. Several different realities are portrayed in a dazzling kaleidoscope that keeps the viewer guessing. Some viewers will be put off by the effort required to follow the six plot lines, but I was drawn in and, ultimately, moved. This is one of those movies that you have to see more than once, and I anticipate seeing it again -- when I have nearly three hours to devote to it. The disc I rented had no Extras. (English subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available, but not closed captions.) Grade: A-