I love non-linear movies and I found this epic very satisfying, from the characters to the intertwining stories and ultimate message. It begins in the mid-1800's, with a man making an ocean voyage, then goes to a gay music composer to a murder tied into a nuclear power plant to a publisher in a nursing home to the future, where an Asian clone revolts against her consumer society. It ends thousands of years in the future, with a tribesman (Tom Hanks) trying to survive from cannibals and a woman (Halle Barre) from an advanced society. The film jumps back and forth between all these stories. One of the characters is reincarnated from generation to generation, though this has nothing to do with the actors portraying the characters, who may simply be their descendants (and the reason they look alike). If you can't follow a story out of order you'll be hopelessly lost but if you like time travel yarns and can keep over a dozen characters straight in your head, then this is for you. Highly recommended.