Thought provoking

Rating: 9/10 (29 April 2011)

Having only just got round to watching this on DVD I am impressed. It's funny, thought provoking, emotional, intelligent and touching in all the right amounts and will ring true to many people who have been married for several years and are 'searching' for something else. Sam Mendes does a fantastic job of directing and the film is beautifully shot with amazing lighting in many of the scenes. In fact it's the setting itself that gives the intensity to much of the film with the house and Frank's job been oppressive to the point where the viewer is desperate for them both to escape. DiCaprio and Winslet are sublime and their chemistry sizzles on screen. The supporting cast are fabulous with Michael Shannon stealing his scenes as the son of Mrs Givings. All through this film you feel the quiet desperation of a couple who love and loathe each other at the same time and who don't know how to resolve either one of those things. The ending is as the rest of the film is, a look at life and how it has to continue under any circumstances and the final scene is a fitting tribute to marriages who make it and a nod to how they do that - in fact it made me smile.