Michael's friends mourned him as a smart, hardworking, bighearted man who, had he died a little sooner or a little later, might have been remembered as a hero.
The daunting four-hour length leaves plenty of room for meandering subplots and misunderstandings, but the film is so visually alive and superbly structured it also breaks for an intermission that you will be happily taken in by its bighearted charms.