Why? Was it the overwrought language, or the underdeveloped plot?
Mr. Fuller is working on some kind of redemption theme, but he sabotages the story with underdeveloped plot threads: a bartender with cancer, an old car crash, sibling rivalry.
The gratingly underdeveloped plot has all the dramatic effect of a toddler with her hands behind her back chirping, "Guess what I've got?" for more than an hour.
Metros Larushka Ivan-Zadeh complained about the underdeveloped plot, saying "In 2010, issues surrounding the immersive nature of gaming and all-consuming power of modern technology are more pertinent than ever, so it's frustrating the script does nothing with them".
As a result, you get novels with underdeveloped characters, abbreviated plots, romantic progression that relies on irrational and often abusive behavior, and the dreadful phenomenon described by reviewers as "instalove". The shy, outcast girl looks across a room and catches the eye of a mysterious, moody loner boy and bam! Instant romance!
Bruce Westbrook of the Houston Chronicle also gave the film two and a half stars, and although he praised its "snappy dialogue and fresh characterizations", he considered the film's plot underdeveloped and characters lacking in motivation.
This might account for the current version's disjointed feel, with many plot strands underdeveloped.
This film does have its redeeming qualities despite the underdeveloped characters and disjoint plot.
But the plot is underdeveloped and the pacing is disconcertingly off.
It might be easier to forgive the cursory plotting and the underdeveloped characters of this lightweight sci-fi if the whole story wasn't predicated on a single act of staggering selfishness.
"Traffic in Souls" is not a very accomplished film (particularly when compared with what was being made in France at the time, like Louis Feuillade's "Fantômas"), with an excess of underdeveloped characters and a scrambled plot structure.
