Ever watched one of those “I just don’t get it” movies? This is certainly one of them. I mean, I get the premise… but not quite the approach. It’s about a rich family and a few servants living out the end of days (for the past 20 years) in a converted salt mine. With songs. And a lot of nattering about the past and stern lectures that will not sway a single energy company CEO, and various other things that kind of go nowhere.

Except there are good acting moments. Every once in a while, a scene will feel properly dramatic and interesting. And then that goes away and we are back to nattering about – and rewriting – the past. And it’s all intercut by some of the most exasperatingly tedious musical numbers that seriously get in the way of whatever points they are making. Maybe without the numbers, I might have cared more about these people and their problems. Or it’d make the movie a lot shorter <glances at watch> 2 and half hours of these people? Yeesh.

But, no, it’s a musical post-apocalypse set in a neat looking but very remote salt mine. What’s actually going on out there? Doesn’t matter much to these self-deluded people so it barely matters to me either. But, hey, I get it… this is a small film without the post-apocalyptic budget. And yet its storytelling and musical decisions keep me at a distance.

On the plus side, everyone is game to sing their own songs (for good and ill). The acting is solid if not consistently engaging. I believe these actors are trying their best. And those individual scenes where my interest would pique were largely due to their performances.

So, yeah, didn’t like the songs, didn’t like the characters, didn’t like their problems, and didn’t like the analogies, metaphors, and finger wagging at people who aren’t going to watch this movie anyways. But the setting is unique and the actors are going for it so the whole 2 1/2 hours isn’t a drag.

Score: 72