Excellent film, excellent performances

Rating: 10/10 (8 January 2002)

Others here have said all the great things about this movie that I would, so I won't reiterate them here except to say that as a long-time fan of the books, I'm now a fan of the movie as well and eagerly awaiting the next one.
What I've not seen enough people comment on is Sean Bean's portrayal of Boromir. Wow. In the book, the character seems flat and unsympathetic, just a cardboard cutout meant to show us Man's Corruption, but in the movie, he's fully realized. Sean Bean brings an emotional and wholly human depth to the character, making real the conflict within Boromir's heart, and his terrible regret at the end. In his confrontation with Aragorn at the council - indeed, from his first appearance - you see it clearly: his fierce love of Gondor, and the conflict he feels upon discovering who Aragorn is; his need to save his people like he needs to breathe; and an inner desire for power that seems to shame him even as he reaches for it. To say much more I'd have to give away plot points, so I won't, but Boromir is a complex and very human character, and it's thanks to Bean's performance that we finally see it.