Far above the norm

Rating: 9/10 (1 November 2002)

Most modern movies use tricks and conceits to grab and hold your attention. This movie, like its protagonist, fails to stoop to such manipulation, instead gently allowing you to bring out your best. The message here is very simple - love, be courageous, accept your weaknesses and failures but don't let them hold you back. The acting is so precise and compelling, that no tricks are necessary to carry you along into what should be an unbelievable premise. Brad Pitt pulls off the daunting task of portraying a non-human discovering what being human is, from the first taste of peanut butter to the pain and rapture of love. Anthony Hopkins is a mouthful of fine wine from a lead crystal glass - so odd to think this could be the same man who plays a cannibal elsewhere. If you feel an unexamined life is not worth living, you'll enjoy this film.