Quote:However, to other people, it may be slightly contrived/manipulative in the sense that there are too many coincidences (with the people somehow related and crossing one another's path within such a short time frame) ...

As i'm sure you've gathered, that's where i sit. This approach his be done many times before and many times much better. It's just unrealistic, people aren't linked in that way. Aside from the bad dialogue, wooden acting and clunky use of music, there wasn't enough animation, which was the only decent idea.