Martin Bradley Taking as its, admittedly uncredited, source Arthur Schnitzler's play "Reigen", screen-writer Peter Morgan and director Fernando Meirelles' 360 combines several stories in something of the disjointed manner of Inarritu's "Amores Perros" or "Babel". It's very skillfully made and yes, it holds our attention but that's all it does. On an emotional level it never really engages us and the 'stories', which are naturally related, aren't particularly interesting. The film is clever, well-written, often beautifully directed and the large, international cast are all fine but there's a distinct lack of substance; this isn't a memorable film. Still, there is at least one thing about this film that is great and it occurs whenever Anthony Hopkins is on screen. It isn't a big part and there isn't a great deal of character development in the writing but Hopkins is such a great actor that he makes the part great. You get the impression he's making it up as he goes along; in other words, you feel you are seeing a real person rather than the actor playing him. He's only on screen for much too short a time but he's magnificent. As can he guessed from the title, the film is called 360 because the stories go full circle; if only they had been better this film might have been as great as something like "Amores Perros" or "Pulp Fiction" which were constructed in much the same way. It's certainly not a bad film but it could have been so much better while the closing story seems both melodramatic and really rather tagged on for effect. On hindsight this would probably have made a good six-part television series rather than a two hour movie.

Jonathon Dabell 360 is all about circles (hence the title) – the circle of life; circles of deceit; the circles in which people move; the circular nature of actions and consequence… all conveyed by way of a circular narrative. The cast is very strong and it's no surprise that the film is excellently performed across the board. Sadly, the plaudits end there… away from the strength of the acting there's really not much left to admire. Too much pretentiousness, irritating over-editing, an excessively leisurely narrative which doesn't really go anywhere, jerky switches in mood and style – there are simply too many shortcomings for this to be anything more than a minor curio. There isn't a plot to speak of, more a series of mini-plots which interweave from time to time. The one link between the various stories is that they all focus on characters who are wrestling with some sort of relationship problem, be it infidelity between husbands and wives, disapproval regarding the actions of a loved one , or a craving to reconnect with family members who are lost (literally and metaphorically). The film is more interested in characters than story; an unusual approach, yes, and arresting for a while, but ultimately not fulfilling enough to carry it for almost two hours.Director Fernando Meirelles has done some very good films (City Of God, The Constant Gardener for example) so one could be forgiven for expecting big things of 360. Meirelles gets great performances from his actors, as mentioned already, but struggles to mould the unwieldy narrative into any kind of shape. The film is only sporadically effective – a flash of tension here, a well-written line of dialogue there – but overall it drifts along rather tediously, much like a rudderless ship. Between these occasional glimpses of what-might-have- been, the lack of purpose is painfully evident and clumsy efforts are made to disguise it with gimmicky editing and pointless pauses that are presumably meant to be 'deep' and 'meaningful'. These 'interlocking- story' films seem to be becoming increasingly popular of late, so its some relief at least that 360 doesn't go down the horribly schmaltzy route of such unbearable slush-fests as Valentine's Day or New Year's Eve. If nothing else, this film doesn't go in for absurdly pat resolutions wherein everything works itself perfectly and everyone ends up living happily ever after with someone else, which is where these other sickly sweet portmanteau films go wrong. 360 concludes on a hopeful note for some of its characters, but for others things don't work out or, in some cases, they work out only partially and at a price. In the final analysis, 360 is a very average film with delusions of greatness. Watch it for the acting by all means, but if it's a powerful emotional drama you're seeking you'd be better off searching elsewhere.

Claudio Carvalho The sisters Anna (Gabriela Marcinkova) and Mirka (Lucia Siposová) travel from the Bratislava, in Slovakia, to Vienna and the ambitious Mirka takes nude photos with the photographer and pimp Rocco (Johannes Krisch) and changes her name to Blanca to work as call girl. On the next day, she goes to a restaurant to meet the married British businessman Michael Daly (Jude Law) but he meets with acquaintances and does not contact Blanca. Soon he is blackmailed by the guy that forces Michael to close a business with him.In Paris, a Muslim follows a married woman and then he goes to his psychoanalyst and tells that he is infatuated. Later the woman, named Valentina (Dinara Drukarova) tells to her husband Sergei (Vladimir Vdovichenkov) that she wants to divorce him since she loves her boss. In London, Rose (Rachel Weisz) ends her love affair with the Brazilian photographer Rui (Juliano Cazarré) but they have sex for the last time. Rui is left by his girlfriend Laura (Maria Flor) that has discovered his affair and she travels back home. Laura meets a man named John (Anthony Hopkins) in the flight and she learns that he is looking for his missing daughter. Rose goes home and her husband Michael arrives from his business trip and they go to see "The Fiddler on the Roof" in their daughter's school.In Colorado, the sex offender Tyler (Ben Foster) will be released on probation after six years in prison. He meets Laura in the Denver airport and he resists her harassment. Their lives are entwined and life goes on."360" is not a bad movie and would be great if it were an independent production; but considering the director, the cast and the budget, it is but pointless and deceptive despite the fake reviews promoting this film.Maybe the best subplot is the story of the aspiring prostitute that ends with her dream coming true. The subplots of Michael and Rose; the Muslim guy and Valentina; and the Laura, John and Tyler could have been better developed. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "360"

Tony Heck "A wise man once said if there's a fork in the road take it." This is a movie that deals with many different characters from different parts of the world from different social classes and how they deal with day to day problems from doing anything to earn money to getting stranded while traveling. The cast in this, which includes: Rachel Weisz, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins and Ben Foster is great and honestly the cast is the best part of the movie. I used to think that a great cast automatically means that it will be a great movie, but after the last 4 or 5 movies I have seen based off the cast I am beginning to rethink my opinion. The acting is great in this and the story lines basically end up being tied together I guess but the movie is just so slow moving that it makes it really hard to stay interested in. The movie is pretty OK but for me this is another example of a great cast in a sub-par movie. Overall, very slow moving drama that is really only worth seeing because of the cast. I give it a C+.