Shame it wasn't that well written!

Rating: 6/10 (20 May 2006)

I usually like this kind of film - anything that looks at why we do the things we do, takes a character or two lovers on a winding and beautiful road through all kinds of confusion until they finally get hold of themselves again.
The premise is obvious enough but with plenty of scope to tell a good story. Unfortunately it just isn't told well enough. The thing with any story like this is that you really have to invest yourself in the protagonists for it to work. Otherwise it just becomes academic, an interesting question but one where you're not too bothered about the answer. There's a problem with performances and material. Carrey plays a roughly similar role to Truman in the Truman Show, but with so little nuance in the script and evidently something lacking in the direction, he doesn't manage nearly the depth of that character, and none of the humour. Much the same applies to Winslett, who just doesn't seem to have any material to work with.
As I say, it's a shame, because there's a great cast here and a good idea - it would have worked if they'd spent a few months more working on the script. As it is, despite this being exactly my kind of film, I'm surprised by the overridingly positive response here.