A filmmaker's opinion...

You can tell that a good deal of affection went into making this film. On that basis, it's a bit difficult to ostracize the director or dismiss it as crap. There's a process all filmmakers go through where they determine both their latitudes and deficiencies, and that process is called filmmaking. William Friedkin once said that his first film (Good Times w/ Sonny and Cher) is unwatchable. A few years later he won an Oscar for The French Connection...

Also - the DVD commentaries are pretty informative if you're a newbie.