Suffers from Comparison to Other Lean Epics

Rating: 7/10 (12 December 2006)

I credit David Lean with introducing to film audiences epics that could think as well as dazzle. "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and "Lawrence of Arabia" are as fascinating to watch as intimate character studies as they are big historical panoramas. With "Doctor Zhivago," Lean lost that intellectual edge and made a fabulously entertaining soap opera that, no matter how easily it goes down, still leaves me longing for the challenge of his earlier pictures.
"Zhivago" creates a fascinating and sprawling portrait of turn-of-the-(20th)-century Russia and the lives of a few characters as they navigate the tricky waters of political and socio-economic turmoil. But the central story, revolving around Omar Sharif's doctor, is not as compelling as that of T.E. Lawrence or the British military commander created by Alec Guinness in "Kwai," and Sharif himself is rather a bland presence here, as is his love interest, played by the gorgeous but somewhat vapid Julie Christie. Without these two generating any heat, it's somewhat difficult to warm to them. I found myself more often paying attention to the sets and costumes than I did the actors.
Other members of the cast do better by their roles, and make much more of an impression with much less screen time: Rod Steiger, Geraldine Chaplin and Tom Courtenay in particular. But "Doctor Zhivago" can only be as good as its doctor, which is why this film, despite all of its merits, must remain a more minor work in Lean's canon.
Grade: B+