Tremendous cinematography and good acting marred by shaky plot.

Rating: Null/10 (22 June 1999)

It's always a shame when a film such as "Legends of the Fall" looks so good and is so well produced, but its plot and its wholeness cannot measure up. Anthony Hopkins stars as the father of three sons: Alfred(Aidan Quinn), Tristan(Brad Pitt), and Samuel(Henry Thomas). They are a close-knit family without any degree of malice between them. When Samuel brings home a fiancee (the beautiful Julia Ormond), all three sons are enamored by her. With her arrival as well as the coming of World War One, the family is torn apart in shattering ways. The cinematography by John Toll is nothing but tremendous. Alberta's scenery has never looked better, even though it is being represented as Montana. The acting is first-rate, with Hopkins and Quinn standing out as the best of them. The major problems about this film is its grandiose form of storytelling. Some of these legendary plotlines might have worked during the fifties, but seem amazingly contrived today. It is not enough that Ormond has to be involved with one brother in the story, but has "relations" with all three. Does she have no shame? The nomadic lifestyle of Pitt's character also goes overboard, with too much accent on the savage nature of the hunt. He even flaunts this behavior as a soldier, cutting his brother's heart out! Does he have no shame? I will admit I do enjoy a well-written soap opera in the movies. This one tries to be Shakespeare and fails miserably. I highly recommend this epic as a visual feast, but cannot condone some of the plot angles in this mediocre story. Note: Somebody please teach Brad Pitt how to be a credible actor! Rating: Two stars and a half.