Miramax strikes again

Rating: Null/10 (15 January 2004)

This is yet another vacuous, overlong, prettified Miramax adaptation of a semi-literary novel. For someone who's supposedly been reduced to destitution, Nicole Kidman always looks to have a hair stylist on hand, and at one stage I could swear she's wearing tinted contacts. The cynicism of this type of film-making, throwing in as many sops to the Oscar voters as possible (a bit of 'hard-hitting' cruelty to lend a spurious air of seriousness, a Philip Seymour Hoffman 'character' role, etc), shows sheer contempt for the audience. Please avoid.