favorable

Rating: 10/10 (17 March 2001)

I agree with Ed Deeth's comments about the film except for the part about the accents. Willing suspension of disbelief -- I think it would have been more distracting to have the actors attempt Russian and German accents possibly unsuccessfully, and perhaps the attempt would have distracted them away from their portrayals. The only English accent I was really aware of was Sasha's. This was a wonderful and moving motion picture, and I was especially impressed with the acting of Jude Law and Joseph Fiennes. I didn't realize who the actors were, though they looked familiar. They really became the characters, not themselves. It's nice to see a new generation of young actors who can take on a variety of roles believably and not just be one type. After the movie, when I realized who played Vasily and Danilov and thought about The Amazing Mr. Ripley and Shakespeare in Love, I was really impressed. These two can be compared to Rod Steiger, Olivier, and a few others could play more than just one type of character.