Yes, Roger Ebert was wise.
But I'm currently watching all At the Movies episodes from the 80's, and I'm shocked at how many times he has claimed a film felt too long (very good movies) many clocking in at 110-120 minutes.
So I'm not even sure he played by his own rule.
It really got legs once the big "reveal" happened.
This is par for the course in the literary world. Authors have been overindulgent for centuries, and I can't say enough how many classic novels I have read that could have been so much better minus a few chapters or more.
I'm going to start checking the length of films before I watch them. So overindulgent in the run time, and so very, very few times it justifies the overall experience. If anything, I think it detracts from the film in a harmful/negative way.
I have felt this way since the last LOTR movie...