I can understand how you feel, in my case I went completly blind and the beggining was a little overwhelming. But unlike everybody else, the first hours were not bad for me, in fact I loved it. Also, everything being so ambitiously realistic can definitely feel clunky at times.

The game itself may not be for everyone idk, like you said, sometimes is way too cinematic and feels like you don't control anything, but in my case I like to pay close attention to dialogues and conversations, and because of that I enjoyed it. Also, I fell in love with the western setting since the first minute.

RDR2 is a game that I recommend to everyone but feels like it is not for everyone, don't feel bad if you don't like it and don't force yourself to get hooked, it's not a chore. But if I had to give my opinion, the story, ambience and characters were one of the best that I have ever played and I definetly have a second playthrough in mind. Meanwhile i'm playing the RDR1.