Not bad at all

Rating: Null/10 (29 December 2003)

I was one of maybe three male viewers in the theatre so i told my wife to have fun and wake me when it ends thinking that it was basically a sappy romance. To my surprise it held my attention for the entire duration. This is a good movie which showed the brutality of war and the pettiness and savagery of men who are supposed to be allies. Renee Zellwigger should get an oscar nod for her sometimes funny, often dead on performance as Ruby. She certainly stole the show. Nicole Kidman was good but I think she was overshadowed by Renee, although I was surprised by her "Sharon Stone" moment. There were many great cameo appearances by such stars as Donald Sutherland, Brendan Gleeson, Natalie Portman (in a truly touching performance as a recently widowed young mother) and Philip Kaufman in a hilarious, scene stealing performance as a disgraced reverend. The ending was sort of like a darker version of Far and Away which reminded me of Tom Cruise's planned involvement. Even though it dragged a little at times I still enjoyed it.