Take away the gimmick and what's left?

Rating: 5/10 (8 February 2009)

The cinematography is top-notch, and Cate Blanchett is luminous as only she can be -- which might eventually become boring if it were all she could do, but of course she can do much more. The narrative is initially absorbing, but as it unfolds what emerges is a soppy, sentimental, feelgood yarn with not much of a point to it -- make that no point at all. I enjoy fantasy, but it should compel belief, not disbelief, and details count. The notion that an American tugboat could have been working in Murmansk prior to the involvement of the US and the USSR in the Second World War (or even during the war) defies belief, and so does the fact that the hero survives his boat's ramming of a U-boat with his spectacles intact. But is anything better to be expected from the writer of Forrest Gump? Brad Pitt turns in his usual wooden performance, though to be fair the role is so insipid that his casting may in this instance be ideal. I gave the film 5 stars, but I'm regretting my generosity.