A Much Better Movie Than Reviews Imply

Rating: Null/10 (2 January 2004)

I was gladdened to read the many positive reviews of this movie on imdb. Based on the reviews, I was expecting a disappointing Tim Burton effort which gets bogged down in the Billy Crudup/Albert Finney sequences.
But this was one of my favorite films of the year. It's absolutely magical and very, very touching. I have a feeling that it will be reevaluated at a later date--possibly as soon as the video release--as an underappreciated masterpiece.
Albert Finney deserves an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor. He is so devilish and charming, and very funny. I'd also got the impression from reviews that Jessica Lange is underutilized by Burton but, in fact, she has a large, featured role in which she doesn't put a foot wrong. If anything, she's underutilized by filmmakers in general in that she doesn't appear in many movies these days, sad to say. She's a wonderful actress and the relationship between her and Albert Finney's character is very moving.
I loved this film and highly recommend it. Sometimes I wonder i the so-called "serious" reviewers don't just base their reviews on other writers' opinions. They got it very wrong this time.