So close, yet so far

Rating: 5/10 (29 June 2002)

I can think of a number of good things to say about this film. The two main actresses give stunning, fully Oscar-worthy performances. The cinematography is beautiful at times, though lacklustre in others. The piano music which fills the film is wonderful.
But all these plus points can't save a film that is, sadly, lacking in so many crucial areas. This is very much a character-driven film, so when the characterization turns out to be so shallow and cliched, it's a crippling blow which the film can never recover from. It's to Hunter and Paquin's eternal credit that their hopelessly underdeveloped characters achieve the kind of life they do - the rest of the cast cannot match up, and leave their "characters" as mere cardboard cut-outs copied from any of a hundred other sources.
It's a pity, because every once in a while this film does throw up some flashes of brilliance. Some scenes are genuinely, beautifully touching- unfortunately, they're rare gems in an ocean of drab. It's easy to see how this film could have been much, much better than it ultimately is, and that's what makes it all the more infuriating, because it's so close to being great, but ultimately falls far short.