surprisingly good!

Rating: 8/10 (10 May 2005)

Honestly, I've never thought I'd like this movie that's why I didn't see it at the theater or rent it on DVD, until now. (It's the only Oscar nominated film I skipped for 2004) To my surprise, it's a very high quality film and was lushly produced. I have to agree with many viewers, the cinematography is far more poetic and superior than the 'master and commander' which won the category eventually. It's far better as a film than the Oscar nominated 'finding neverland' last year as well. I have no slightly idea why such an ordinary movie like neverland was nominated, before the Oscar and after watching it on DVD. The only explanation is there were too many lame movies last year that they couldn't even find 5 decent films to nominate for.
All the characters are likable in the movie. That's different from the usual Hollywood predictable formula: got to have some villains for contrast! Jeff Bridges and Chris Cooper both delivered a very fine performance. Chris Cooper especially stands out in every scene he was in. On the contrary, Tobey Maguire got most screen time but is the least interesting of the major leads (including the horse) to watch. He neither subtracts nor adds values to the movie. It's in fact kind of distracting to watch his red hair (we know why) when there are plenty of actors with red-hair can do the job.
Still, it is a solid and up-lifting film. Can't expect too much on a film nowadays, especially when you have to endure dozens of lame movies to come across a decent movie like this in a typical year.