Lukewarm review of "Doctor Zhivago"

Rating: 7/10 (27 November 2004)

There are so many things wrong with "Doctor Zhivago", I'm at loss where to begin.
Number One, this is another one of those movies where everybody somehow speaks English (with a variety of American and English accents)To be fair, the filmmakers were thoughtful enough to translate the writing, signs, book titles etc. into Cyrillic (though in one scene where Yuri Zhivago is writing, he calligraphs "LAURA" in clearly, indisputably Latin alphabet letters.)I also liked the few small Russian touches-a child receiving 4+ in school,the graph paper.
Number Two, this is soap opera.It isn't about World War I, it isn't about the Bolshevik Revolution, it has nothing to say about communism. It is not to be mistaken for a political movie.This is 'political' the same way "Gone With The Wind" is 'political'- as a setting that provides crowd scenes, battle scenes and costume drama with out ANY ideas.One character sniffs that there is no personal feeling any more because it has been wiped out by history.Not in this movie.
The central story about the love between Zhivago and Lara is not interesting, the story of Zhivago's domestic life with his plain but steadfast wife Tonya is not interesting.The life of the movie is in the corners-in Rod Steiger's performance as the very apptly named Komarovsky (he lights up every scene he's in) and Tom Courteney's and Alec Guinness' performances. There is also a terrific cameo by Klaus Kinski.
The plot goes in circles,makes less and less sense the more you think about it and drags on and on for hours.The actions of the characters are just so false and implausible.Call me a cynic but when Komarovsky offers Lara a way to save herself, her child and Zhivago from the Bolsheviks she should have take it, not thrown him down the staircase.
The set decoration and production values are amazing.One scene in particular, where they enter Zhivago's dacha, now an ice palace, is literally breathtaking.
The final scene with Zhivago running after a blond woman on the streets of Moscow is just pathetic.It's just bad acting.
However, this is enjoyable melodrama, even if it evaporates the second it's over.