Does NO justice to novel

Rating: 6/10 (20 April 1999)

An embarrassment for Lean, an otherwise supremely talented director, with special skill regarding epics. None of his usual complexity is evident here, in fact, none of Pasternak's original novel is either. There's nothing remotely Russian about the overstuffed turkey, which can get so tedious at times, that the fast-forward button seems a blessing. Basically, "Doctor Zhivago" is high-class Englishmen going through the motions in phony "exotic" locations. Julie Christie, with her blank stares and pouty lips, possesses all the acting ability of a blow-up doll. Shariff, with all the huffing and puffing, is just about as unconvincing as Zhivago as an actor can get. Smaller roles, like Alec Guiness' chilling KGB bigshot, fare better, but none are playing Russians for a second. Which fantasyland these Brit-accented Commies are in, one simply has not a clue.