a bland review by boe_dye

Rating: 3/10 (27 December 2007)

Perhaps this is one of those things where translation was lost between book and film, i certainly wont know as i don't normally read fiction, and if i did read fiction (that's what movies are for, but that is just me), i would not read this book.
I suppose that what made me and my wife miss the mark on this film was the fact that the interpretation of "devil" was not a malevolent devil, but merely a crafty individual who was pulling the strings of just about everyone and every thing.
For the most part i could describe this film as watching the heart monitor of a dead person, who periodically spasms due to fluctuations in the body...
I am not a doctor by any stretch, and i know the analogy is poor so let me draw it out for you...
the movie kind of felt like this --------------------------^----------------------------^-------- It really didn't do much except have a blip of something sporadically placed here and there.
I suppose you could argue that it was the overall message that was important, however by the time you get to that message your so bored out of your mind cause nothing really happened.
And i am not talking about action, or bang em up shoot em up, but at least some type of dynamics would have been nice.
Even something like "great expectations" with ethan hawke and gweneth paltrow that could very easily be comparable to this, had a certain amount of dynamics to it, and i really enjoyed that film.
The acting was okay i suppose, and streeps character was stereotypical to that type of lifestyle that was being portrayed. but considering that i don't know anyone near that income level i can't really say for certain. half the time she acted as if she had swallowed vallium or prozac before each take.
Now perhaps that was the point, and if it was then she played the part well. however the overall boredom and lack of any type of fluctuation in her character simply put me to sleep.
I get the idea that the moral of the story is to make one think how far would they go to further their career. what type of sacrifice would have to be made and all, but there are certainly better movies that portray this message, again with the aforementioned "great expectations".
Thankfully my wife and i did not have to pay to see this, and decided to watch it due to a brief fit of 1am insomnia. however after viewing it, the insomnia was cured and our pillows awaited our drowsy bodies.