A bit over-rated, but overall the performances steal the show here

Rating: 7/10 (14 December 2011)

Going into this film , I did have high expectations. What I learned coming out of it is that, I do believe, I have grown a bit as a critic. This being of the highest praised films of the year, I had no doubts that I would come out of it liking it somewhat at least. This being said, I was mostly let down here. Another thing this film taught me is that trailers for films can be deceiving and that literally most of the great parts of a film are within it's trailers. This is mostly the case here. I found the most enjoyable moments were parts of snip-its from pieces in the trailer. If you have not yet seen the trailer for this film, I recommend against watching it. The story here, overall, is actually quite bland and nothing to really get excited for. This is a pretty easy film to swallow, and there is really only one scene in the film that really gives it anything worthy of a PG-13 rating. You could say this is almost a family film for the easy minded, and for some, it could be something anyone could enjoy if you are into the more independent films of course.
However, despite all this, the performances is what really saves the film here, and they are spot on, and in every way worthy of an Oscar nom. from at least the 2 leads or just the female lead overall. Also, the cinematography is quite gorgeous to look at for the most part. I can't really say that what IS here is really flawed at all, it just really didn't grab me and have all the magic most are claiming it to have. There is something here, but it is missing a lot of charm it could have had. What we get here is splices of charm with a downtrodden face.