Boring, boring, boring

Rating: 2/10 (21 March 1999)

I cannot believe this movie won best picture. Yes, it has nice cinematography and the acting is good, but it was far too long (for what the telling of the story accomplished) and very, very boring. I thought the story focused too much on the relationship between Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas- a relationship I found myself not caring about at all, partly because Kristin Scott Thomas' character was not very likable- and not enough time on the relationship between Juliette Binoche and Naveen Andrews- characters I did like and was interested in. Someone told me that in the novel, this relationship is stressed more than it is in the movie. I don't know why, then, it was not really shown in the movie- if this was a matter of keeping the time down or if it was because they were unsure how the public would react to a multi-racial relationship, because for some reason there are still a lot of people out there that have problems with interracial relationships. I really hope this wasn't the reason, because that would mean that not only did this movie suck, the creators also lacked integrity. Anyway, like I said, the movie was too long, yet it seemed to do nothing with this time. There were far too many shots where we apparently were supposed to gush at the scenery, time which could have been spent on, say, the relationship between Binoche and Andrews, or one making Kristin Scott Thomas' character seem less shallow.
I cannot understand how this movie got nominated for best picture, never mind how it won. I don't remember every movie that came out in 1996, but the other nominated pictures were better by far, even if they were not amazing films themselves. Jerry Maguire was not a spectacular film, but it was certainly better than The English Patient. Hey, even Independence Day and The Rock were more deserving of Oscars, because they at least were not boring. Twister had nifty special effects, such that even with its nonexistent storyline, it was more entertaining. There are very few movies I have seen that are as boring as The English Patient. The only reason I didn't leave is because I paid to see it, that and I kept expecting it to get better, because of its accolades. Instead I wound up very disappointed. This movie reminded me of reading a textbook- tedious and hard to pay attention to, with only odd bits of interest. If you're the kind of person who enjoys reading textbooks in your spare time, this movie is for you. If not, pass this one over for better works by these talented actors, such as Schindler's List, Quiz Show, or Four Weddings and a Funeral.