Between you and Hail Ants, what’s with the insults? There’s a whole undisturbed middle ground here. People can be smart and sophisticated and still think the movie failed at doing what it intended.
2001 is like an abstract painting. There isn’t anything obvious there, but with careful viewing, you can “see” what the artist intended. I’ve often wondered if a movie can be made that is the equivalent of an abstract painting that is about the emotion created by looking at it, rather than what is on the canvas. I think 2001 is that film, as is, oddly enough, Lost In Translation. Neither film is about the story, they are about the feelings.
Though I do find it funny that people call 2001 “hard science fiction.” I think it is about the exact opposite. It’s more Harlan Ellison that Clarke. Just because the space travel is detailed and accurate doesn’t make it “hard”.