The only reason people are calling this over-rated is because it's been given a label that is impossible to live up to, built on the assumption that any movie could possibly be the be-all, end-all, greatest of all time. Yes, it’s good, very good. 5/5, 10/10, whatever, but is it the greatest film of all time? No, because nothing ever will be.

"Probably the most unfortunate thing that ever happened to `Citizen Kane' was that it found itself atop the AFI top film list. Now, no one can simply enjoy the film. Everyone feels compelled to scrutinize it and make a decision about its greatness."

The movie is years, perhaps decades ahead of its time. Watch a bunch of movies from the same time period and compare, it's like comparing a diamond to sea shells. Pay close attention to the lighting and especially the camerawork. It's all things we have come to know and love now but this is 70+ years ago. I agree with another commenter that no movie could ever really be the "greatest" of all time, cinema is far too varied for that. The vast majority of people who call it "overrated" most likely saw this movie as #1 in a few lists and then watched it as one of their first old movies they've ever watched, (once again, it's 76 years old for Pete's sake.) If you are strictly a contemporary movie watcher it's understandable it won't be your thing. A taste for classic movies is a quality obtained over time and study of classic films.

I can't claim it to absolutely positively be the best of all time. It is, however, one of the most meticulously and well crafted movies ever made, without question. Orson Welles strikes an imposing character who is impossible to take your eyes off of. The movie begins brilliantly and over the course of the film we find that, like newspaper stories, reality is far different and infinitely more complicated than the headlines...