Open ranges, empty script No new trails to be found No new roads on a highway Dead poems to the ground Hollow's not necessarily deep, brother And slow's not profound, me mate The tale of the peacock Disguised as a hound
I thought he made that pretty clear. Slow empty scenes with very little happening does not make a film profound, yet the filmmaker clearly thinks they do. So yes, the movie is pretentious.
It's a pretty simple story, but there's very little depth to the characters. Ray Winstone's part of the film is the more interesting side of it, but his whole role is to wait for Guy Pearce to come back. Whenever we return to Guy Pearce's character nothing blooming happens! It's just the older brother getting all emotional about sunsets, which quite frankly left me thoroughly unmoved because Danny Huston's role is as flat as a pancake.
I don't think you know what the word "pretentious" means, sorry. Or has the director said that this movie is "profound" in any way? I doubt it. It's a slow and atmospheric film, sure, but pretentious? What the hell are you talking about?
You don't like it? Then go out and make a movie less pretentious and more "in your face" than this one. Teach John Hillcoat and Nick Cave a thing or two.