Good but...

Rating: 7/10 (29 December 2003)

I must admit, after watching the trailers, I wanted to despise this movie. It seemed a heap of melodrama with some utterly stupid dialogue (what was Ruby saying about the weather again? Come on...) intended only to win Oscars for Miramax. And while it had all the trademarks of Minghella, the overt symbolism and sheer epic-ness seemed to work for it. Certainly the performances by Jude Law and Renee Zellweger will not go unnoticed come the Oscars - Jude is quite touching as a man of few words with his emotions all stirring beneath his face, and Renee is a barrel of energy and intensity who can put on the brakes when she has to. Both create very unique performances, which cannot, unfortunately, be said of Nicole Kidman. Brilliant in the Hours, here she returns to her trademark ticks and stock emotions, which are normally quite nice, but certainly don't match up with the other more subtle and intriguing people that surround her. As well, her accent is pretty awful, even for Hollywood-impersonates-the-South standards, and she is FAR too old for the role this time. Really surprising is Natalie Portman in her small role, getting back to acting after her horrendous turns in Star Wars. In five minutes of screen time she shows more layering and creates more understanding for a character than she has in the last five years of her career. Perhaps she should have been given a chance at Ada, although Miramax must have desired a huge star in the lead, regardless of how ill-suited she is for it. Overall, probably Minghella's best movie to date, with possible Oscars for Cinematography, Actor, and Supporting Actress, but if this gets Director and Picture over ROTK, it'll be a crime. 7.5/10