Titanic minus the icebergs - drowning in its own slush!

Rating: 2/10 (11 August 2008)

One of the many problems with this movie is the implausibility and predictability of the story (maybe that's two of the many problems!). Girl takes up with guy from the wrong side of the tracks. They are separated by her parents and by war; she takes up with a worthy suitor; but she eventually returns to his arms. Kind of Titanic minus the ship, the icebergs and most of what made that movie so good. They live happily ever after until she winds up with dementia in the Arnold Schwarzenneger Home for Retired Very Wealthy Californian Gentlefolk and forgets everything, including him. He jogs her intermittently back into the present by reading from a mysterious book which is (hey, we would never have guessed that!) their story. They dance, just like they used to, and indulge in heart-shredding exchanges of the 'I will always lurve you' variety. There is a point about 10 minutes from the end when you think (with relief) that the movie is over. It certainly would have been a good place to stop; there's nothing more to add to the story. But no. The director has to go on and rub in the schmaltz just in case we thought the movie might display some subtlety. The guy wangles his way past the night attendant at the Home and into his demented partner's bed where they expire together. A perfect ending - for them, perhaps, but not for us. Not a movie for grownups. Don't waste your money.