By Jackson TOYON

Imagine one day you’re on the road and your GPS inexplicably addresses you by name and asks, “Do you want to go on a big bold beautiful journey?” 

This film seems to have slipped under the radar without much buzz, though its trailers in theaters caught my attention. Director Park Joong Eun, known professionally as Kogonada, first came onto the scene with his directorial debut film “Columbus,” which received critical acclaim. After another film of his, “After Yang,” received praise from critics, Kogonada’s career became one to watch. He wrote both of these projects but his latest venture marks a departure from this pattern as he directs a screenplay from writer Seth Reiss – a story about memory, love and the strange roads that lead us there.

David Longley (Colin Farrell) is a fairly average (if lonely) guy living in the city and he’s not having the best day today. Finding his car with a ticket on the windshield and a boot on the tire right before he is to drive out to a wedding, he is forced to rent a car at a strangely empty and rather Wes Anderson-looking rental agency. After the two eccentric employees (Kevin Kline and Phoebe Waller-Bridge) manage to upsell him on a car with a GPS, he gets on the road and finally heads off to his destination. 

Longley is going through the motions during the wedding but at the reception he meets someone he doesn’t recognize – a quirky and forward woman named Sarah Myers (Margot Robbie). 

Though brief, his meeting with her leaves an impression on him and he regrets having to leave. On the way home, his GPS offers him the same question written at the beginning of this review. Heeding his father’s words of advice to “be open,” Longley accepts, having no idea it would lead him right back to Sarah. Together, they embark on a journey through doors from their past to process their pain, get closure and maybe find love along the way.
This film has faced some sharp-toothed criticism – and not all of it has been without reason. Still, having seen vastly different reactions from other people who’ve watched “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,” I suspect this film will prove to be divisive among audiences. Some viewers will connect with the characters and others won’t. The concept of the movie lends itself to the type of story you’d expect to see from Studio Ghibli, which would explain the presence of Ghibli’s veteran composer Joe Hisaishi (“Howl’s Moving Castle,” “Spirited Away”). But when the pacing falters due to certain scenes, I couldn’t help but wish that the story had a little more juice to move it along. It has all the ingredients for something really special – but it doesn’t quite come together. For now, Kogonada may be strongest when working from his own scripts.

It might not be his strongest story, but what Kogonada brings visually and emotionally still shines through. With “After Yang” cinematographer Benjamin Loeb by his side, the film is beautifully shot and accompanied by Joe Hisaishi’s magical piano pieces. The emotional beats landed for me and I felt that the chemistry between the leads worked well enough, even if it wasn’t anything spectacular. A particular standout scene in the film teases the singing talents of both Farrell and Robbie, which had me imagining how delightful this film might be as an earnest and full-on musical. Perhaps the energy of a musical would have smoothed out the pacing and maybe more audiences would have gelled with the movie.

“A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” is nothing exceptionally new and it suffers from uneven pacing, but it finds its footing after a bumpy start. It’s unapologetic in its silliness and its sentimentality, wearing its heart on its sleeve. You sort of have to be on this film’s wavelength to fully appreciate it; if you happen to enjoy a saccharine, schmaltzy story, this film could be right up your alley. Critics around the world have made it clear they believe that schmaltz is a pure weakness or a net negative but this reviewer thinks there’s nothing wrong with a touchy-feely picture now and again.