As dull and pretentious as "The English Patient"

Rating: 3/10 (9 June 2008)

Beautiful scenes of the English countryside and the stately homes of the rich do not save this from being the kind of romantic fiction which used to be swallowed up by 14 -year-old girls. At least "The English Patient" had handsome Naveen Andrews to gaze at. And why is it that the blue eyes of children frequently turn brown when they grow up. With all the actors available one would think that they could find a pair with the same color eyes, or avoid close ups.
The Dunkirk scenes were interesting, even if militarily inaccurate. If the evacuation had been as depicted, it is no wonder the BEF was in retreat. They would have needed to go home and learn military tactics. As for the black soldier, where did he come from?
For me the best scenes were in the hospital with Gina McKee as Sister Drummond, the true martinet of the times, running the hospital like a boot camp, but why did she not set the nursing trainees straight about floppy hair falling out of caps? At that time hair had to be firmly held in place and not a stray hair loose. The scenes of nurses mopping floors and being used as skivvies was certainly correct.
Overall, I found the sloppy continuity and cutting back and forth confusing, in addition to which they seem to have got the dates wrong. A little reference to the history books would not have hurt. I especially cringed when someone referred to a character being evacuated TO Dunkirk! And I had always thought it was FROM Dunkirk - well, well!