Best movie of this year hands down!

How sad is this?

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The brave people who went on the difficult journey of exploring the religious experience by interviewing influential religious thinkers were not prepared for the ride. Regardless if this was their first movie, as they are amply reminding us time and again, the lack of coherence and the unnecessary heavy editing that stripped all substance from thoughtful responses of the interviewee is rendering a good idea into something meaningless. I would have been much more interested in seeing complete interviews of each spiritual or religious leaders without editing, but no such luck.I would not recommend this movie to anyone seriously seeking an articulate discussion on the topic of religion or religious experience, but it could be palatable for those seeking good one liners or simple wisdom.

ONE is not a movie. ONE holds magic, woven by the love of all those who crossed the filmmakers path: the spiritual leaders, thinkers, and ordinary folks who opened themselves to the 20 Big Questions; the technical professionals who helped create the movie out of love for its important message; the people in the theater who stuck around in the lobby when the movie was over to share what was in their hearts. You can't judge this movie by its production quality. You have to see it through eyes of love to recognize the seed it is dropping into our collective soul. Many people I've spoken with enjoyed the movie more the more times they saw it, because the layers of meaning began to unfold; the message behind the movie became more apparent. The message is much bigger than the filmmakers know themselves. There is a divine spark in ONE that manages to come through the screen despite its flaws.

Here's a small film which is heart-felt and earnest, driven by pure motives to try to unite a divided nation and calm our fears and bedraggled nerves. So why am I about to rain on its parade?As much as I respect the film and the attempts of the filmmakers, I must say I quickly became bored by the constant "golly-gee-whiz" factor of the filmmakers' incessant reminder that this is their first film - they're not professional filmmakers - but this is their first film - but they never made a film before - so they bought a camera and made their first film. How about that?!Their access to high places in the world of religious thinkers is impressive. Unfortunately, the film is so heavily edited that these great thinkers only get to deliver sound bites; we don't get to hear a lot of reasoning behind the comment or the verbal pathway of thinking which brought the talker to this particular comment. Heavy philosophical questions cannot be answered in 20-second segments - even if you do string several such segments together.The final groaner for me was the character (who comes to symbolize "any thinking person") as he takes a cliché-ridden journey to enlightenment.I went to this film with another person who agreed with my complaints, and yet she was quite moved by this film and would recommend it to anyone. My recommendation is not as glowing. If you liked WHAT THE BLEEP, there's a 60/40 chance you'll enjoy ONE. But turn off that little film critic inside your head first.

This movie tried to explore the meaning of life- not just with ordinary citizens, but with some of the most influential and most brilliant minds on the planet. I would have much preferred to have seen experienced filmmakers asking these people that they interviewed questions so that they didn't make them look like idiots; example: "act-out the condition of the world without making any sounds." The problem was that in the beginning, these documentarians were talking about how great it was that they were doing this great project, and in the middle and end of it, they were still talking about what a great project it was, and how they got such great people to talk about so many great things- then why didn't they share all of these great things with us???!!! I left the film feeling less enchanted. I wasn't looking for answers, just some new perspectives about the human condition, about compassion, about where we all fit within this mass of humanity, and it could have really opened up some great avenues of discussion. But no, it ended with a conclusion that "we must be one with everything around us" and "we are all one." There were the expected characters- the homeless people, the atheists, the Buddhists, the fundamentalist Christians, the people who can channel spirits, ditsy teenage girls on the street, and tourists- all allowed numerous blips and shots to give their short little answers to what they thought about God and life- but everything was so edited, and so cut-down, and so....overly artistic (like this depressed guy filmed in black and white that they keep going back to throughout the movie who was supposed to represent the topic being discussed at that moment- he was really distracting and corny and....pointless to the film). I do not think this film respected the people in it- people who should have been given more time to reflect on one question, rather than being forced to answer 20 that put them on the spot. Anyway, I could go on, but basically, I was disappointed by this film and I would not recommend it. It wasn't awful, but it really did not do any justice to the importance of our eternal search for meaning- so I for "One", want my nine dollars back.