Not bad, but not great

Rating: 7/10 (8 January 2007)

I know it won Best Picture and it was a terrific story with no violence or profanity, but I was a bit disappointed by this movie. It was far from bad, but it wasn't exactly what I hoped it would be. Somewhere I missed something in it, although I find it very hard to say what that exactly was. I guess the best way to describe this feeling is by saying that, because of the continuous switching between present and flash back, I wasn't completely sucked into the story this time. It broke all continuity in the story and that did bother me a bit too often. But don't get me wrong, this is still a movie that is far above average and worth watching for several reasons. One of those reasons is the acting. Gweneth, Ben, the queen....They are all very fine actors who I liked in almost every movie that I watched them play in and this movie wasn't an exception to that rule. Perhaps they aren't very well known to the average viewer who only watches commercial Hollywood toppers, but people who also like more 'alternative' movies, will certainly know their names. But next to the fine acting, this movie also offers some great scenes and images. I like the way they shot the England with its sand storms and sand dunes, but I also enjoyed the images of the English countryside. I truly believe that those images added a lot to the value of this movie and its story, which was also more than OK of course.
All in all this is a movie that may not be as perfect as I hoped it would be, but that still offered me a good time while watching it. I wouldn't recommend it to the people who only like war movies when there are some big fight scenes to be seen in it, because they will be very disappointed, but when you like a more alternative war movie so now and then, than this might be a good movie to watch.