Fantastic except for the visuals

Rating: 8/10 (26 March 2007)

Long story short: good movie, great performances, great writing, mediocre direction. So many of the visual choices in this film seemed designed to eschew the incredible beauty of the setting, opting rather for a TV-like amalgam of close-ups, quick-cuts and occasional moments of camera self-consciousness.
Basically every actor in this film did a terrific job - with the lovely Kerry Washington turning in a surprisingly good and (wow wow wow) hot performance. The movie was well-paced and the production quality high, but I left the theater feeling cheated out of what could've been such a visually stunning and artistic picture, but wasn't.