Oscar, Oscar, Oscar.

Rating: Null/10 (7 January 2004)

The book is the best I have read in my life. When I saw the trailers for the movie, I feared the worst - characters speaking lines seemingly at odds with how they behaved in the book. And the casting worried me - I'm no fan of Nicole Kidman, but saw Jude Law as the lesser of two evils (Tom Cruise being the other - nice guy, and great in roles that suit him: Inman wouldn't have). I am happy to eat humble pie and declare that I will not see a better new movie this year, or maybe for years to come. All of the main players - Law, Kidman, Zellweger, Hoffman, Gleeson and Winstone - should be proud of what they have achieved. If it were possible, all of them should receive an Oscar. Everything about this piece is outstanding - the look of it, the sound (including the music) and of course, the performances. Those quotes I worried about, when seen in context, actually add to the resonance of the book's message. It probably WON'T sweep the board at the Oscars, but when did THAT ever mean anything?