A fresh and brilliant movie

Rating: 10/10 (21 January 2007)

An absolutely brilliant movie with an excellent performance by Paul Giamatti in the role of the detective. Passed over for the Oscar in many fantastic performances, Giamatti should finally receive the coveted gold statue for this characters role and his creativity to bring about not only his detective role into the realm of reality but also for truly bringing this movie to life. Many period piece movies often are left leaving the viewer only imagining what that period of time must have been like. Giamatti and Edward Norton's role in this film lend the viewer the opportunity to actually put yourself into the story and the year. Of his various characters Edward Norton during has played during his career, this one is by far his absolute best and most believable. He adds mystery and a sense of class to his character and gives an unimaginable performance that should by rights, land him an Oscar in this performance as well. Not to be forgotten, is Jessica Biel's role as the duchess and love interest of Norton's character as well as the soon to be king. In this film she steps away from the cutesy girl role that has, in my opinion, molded her into a medium grade actress at best. She and her character shine very notably in this role. In this place and time setting she travereses far beyond her previous roles and presents herself as a lady of character, substance and real depth in her acting. To give this film less than a 10 would be a crime when compared to such horrible actors such as Will Ferrel who receive accolades for shoddy dim-witted performances these days. This is a truly fresh and brilliant movie that compliments itself in it's ending.