I thought this also. It's overall enjoyable but there are sections where it just draws out for 20 minutes or so. The movie probably could have been cut about a half hour.

I can call out "fluff" better then the next one, and maybe some scenes weren't essential to the plot (Example the "disco/soul train" lookin' scene toward the beginning), but thought most of the movie was GREAT and essential watching!

Unlike the OTHER Nominee, "Roma"...my God, that movie is ONE BIG DRAG OUT! Never watched a movie where I felt hardly ANYTHING happens. Beautifully photgraphed/directed, but you couldn't PAY me to watch that one again!

I didn't think pacing was one of the main issues with this. These were my main quibbles:

• I dont think Washington or Driver brought much to the party with their performances.
• I think in a film where you are trying to be serious about critically important issues, you really let yourself down when you use artistic licence (Driver being Jewish, the violent offence etc) when depicting real life events.
• I didn't find any of the mistaken identity stuff over the phone particularly amusing despite it being great and possibly factual source material
• the 'pig' getting a girlfriend dynamic was a bit tacked on. I've no idea if Lee intended a message with that section of the film. It was just wasted and the main section where pacing could be called into question.
  
• to have a film about about recent US history and focus exclusively on blacks and jews, but make no mention of hispanics is an unusual choice given that was consistently the primary dog whistle of the last president. The lack of mention of respect for democratic norms (including orchestrated voter disenfranchisement) was also a strange omission to me.
  

It was pretty engrossing given the source material and some of the scenes were pretty memorable (for example, the two main speeches), but I think some of the above really held it back.

6/10

Lee is very uneven. He makes a good film, then he makes garbage. He makes an interesting film, but then he sabotages it with bizarrely dumb scenes. Anyone rewatch Summer of Sam or She Hate Me, lately? I won't even watch his sh!t anymore.