I had to go with my gut on this one. Something wasn’t right about this one for me. But there is so much to love as well.
Here’s my review of The Shape of Water for Rogerebert.com.
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I love del Toro, but I thought, if anything, you were being kind to “The Shape of Water”. It was well meaning but cloying and heavy-handed, and, in my opinion, engineered to fit del Toro’s themes into an easily digestible, overly obvious Oscar contender (which it obviously is). The amount of formula and blatant messaging is the stuff that seems to appeal to many critics, and, as usual, the givers of awards. “The Devil’s Backbone”, “Pan’s Labyrinth”, and the beautiful “Crimson Peak” are films that I go back to and appreciate more with each viewing, this was a film that I found myself wishing to be over – it just was so obvious and way too precious. Oh well, I think you were right to go with your gut – mine was starting to grow nauseous.