Giant (1956)

Those of you who are, like me, a bit obsessive about film, have surely seen (or at least been told you should see) the 1956 film Giant, based on the classic American novel by Edna Ferber and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean. Sitting down to watch this film, like sitting down to watch Gone with the Wind, is no easy undertaking. Giant is 3 hours and 20 minutes, as my father says, "of just movie time." I finally dedicated the necessary time to watching this "giant" movie (I make no apology for that pun) a week ago. I was underwhelmed, which I'm fairly certain is never the aim of any 3+ hour movie.
I'll start with the good things. James Dean is utterly magnificent as Jett Rink, a poor cowboy just trying to make his way under the shadow of the incredibly wealthy Benedict family. That this was his last role before his untimely death makes his performance all the more heartbreaking as his life slowly spins out of control. The story of Jett Rink is the classic example of "be careful what you wish for because you just might get it." In fact, he's far and away the most fascinating character in the film and comparatively, we barely see him. He pops up every now and again to act as a sort of catalyst to the action of the film, which leads me to one of the biggest problems I have with Giant.
The story of Jett Rink is pushed to the side in favor of an extended chronicle of the marriage of Leslie and Jordan "Bick" Benedict (Taylor and Hudson). The film spends ages showing their domestic  life over more than twenty-five years and quite frankly, most of it is downright dull. They represent the stereotypical North vs South mentality, which at certain moments, creates interesting tension, but for the most part, there's no point in watching them throw parties or fight over what their four year old son's career will be, while somewhere off-screen, an actual epic saga of the pitfalls of the American dream is taking place with Jett Rink at the center.
Also, there's no real central theme to the film. As I mentioned before, there are some interesting moments of turmoil between the two main characters, such as Leslie's fiery rant against the sexism of her husband and his pals and the two ending scenes in which Bick confronts his own racism and endeavors to correct it. Unfortunately, these are few and far between. If I had made this movie, Jett Rink would've been the main character and Leslie & Jordan would've been the supporting characters (they're still important to his story, especially Leslie). This way I could do away with massive portions of basically filler material that take the audience through time without really offering much to the story.
Giant is ultimately a story about Texas, which I suppose accounts somewhat for its length and attempt at a vast, epic tone, yet it falls short of even being convincing as a chronicle of the Lone Star State. In the end, my advice to you is this: if you still feel the need to spend almost 3.5 hours of your life watching this film (and if you love James Dean, it's almost worth it), I suggest also watching Baz Luhrmann's Australia (although not in one sitting) to see what a true love letter to a time and place looks like.