Nice little movie with many acting giants

Rating: 8/10 (4 February 2000)

Tom Hanks was the main character in my absolute favorite of the 90's - "Forrest Gump". This is his new movie. But - a killer with healing abilities ? Sounds really idiotic, doesn't it ? On the other hand, reading the list of fabulous actors which are in it might change one's opinion before watching it, and the movie itself has some really seldom qualities which makes it very, very enjoyable.
The acting here is simply marvelous. It is emotionally correct. It clearly demonstrates Mr. Hanks' (and many others!) abilities to transport emotions onto the screen. It was very nice to notice these little details - how he talked without words with his friend, how he acted in the different situations. In fact, he doesn't express feelings very often, but he really knows how to make you feel what his character feels. On the other hand, the script is often also very funny, often the people in the cinema laughed long and loud.
Well there is not only light. The healing scenes are simply bad, just like the basic script idea. The reasons why the healer got sentenced to death were unrealistic. In fact, some little logical holes were really obvious.
And the evil characters in this script - damned, they were played so excellently that I really couldn't stand them at all. Well this is not really a disadvantage, but I prefer movies with less brutal people in it.
This movie would not have received much praise without the names of Mr. Hanks and the well-known author of the original book. Its design is too "little". Excellent actors alone have never been enough for a movie to succeed. But in this case, I think the name Hanks will be enough, and I think this movie will be nominated for the Oscar.