Good but not great

Rating: 7/10 (20 March 2010)

This film is certainly not a 'one star' - those reviewers who gave it such a low ranking are probably doing a knee-jerk reaction to a film that frustrated them. This is not a film for immature teenagers or twenty-somethings looking for visual excitement, it's a film that requires thought and attention. That aside, the formula is the same one as used in other movies like 'The Others' and 'A Beautiful Mind' - things are not the way they first appear. Given the fine cast it is no surprise that the performances are all very good, and I was especially impressed by the superb Ben Kingsley. Unfortunately the storyline is really rather thin to sustain a two-and-a-half-hour film, so the focus tends to be more on studying the personality of the character played by Di Caprio than running through an interesting plot; this is the fundamental weakness of the film. The wartime experiences of the leading character could have opened up some fascinating twists and turns but that was not exploited; also, as some reviewers have said, the ending was all too predictable once you realised that the leading character was not what he first appeared as. Nevertheless, the excellent acting alone made this film enjoyable for me, and, while not a masterpiece, it is certainly worth watching if you are prepared to be patient.