Mood over matter

I just read a movie review on Lilting, critiquing it for valuing "mood over matter." Though perhaps not entirely applicable in that movie (though I agreed slightly), I feel it is applicable here.

PLUSES: The cinematography was a feast for the eyes that was a good artistic reflection of the John Keats's artistry. It reminded me very much of the cinematography in Renoir (2012), which was IMO a masterful cinematic expression of Renoir's paintings (though the movie itself was a bit stale). Ben Whishaw continues to prove himself as one of the new generation of classically trained, theater-to-film stars that deserve the praise they get (among Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Michael Fassbender). I think they will all grow to be worthy successors of the men they are spiritually replacing- Anthony Hopkins, Michael Caine, and so on- and the fact that their youthfulness is encouraging them to partake in larger mass-audience movies (such X-Men, Star Trek, and the Avengers) is a good sign that we can expect good quality acting in movies that would be threatened with pure cheese without them. That said, Bright Star was hugely dependent on Whishaw's performance.

MINUSES: I think I would have liked more substance and history to the character. Though as a movie about an artist, it needs its moodiness and broodiness - I think it could have used a better balance between tone and content. I believe The Young Victoria had a balance that would have worked for this movie - with enough content on the character and the history around the character while still having its moments concentrated on mood. This movie, however, spent too much time on artistry and too little on the biographical moments that shaped the poet.