A movie with substantial flaws

Rating: 6/10 (4 June 2009)

This movie exemplifies hyperbole. The accolades that this movie won are leaps and bounds beyond what it truly deserves. I'm not trying to argue that Kate Winslet didn't do a wonderful job, she did, nor am I arguing that underneath there aren't strong qualities, but this movie is certainly nothing special. Unfortunately this is an example of a film getting lost in the bubble of Hollywood where some things take on a life of their own.
Movies about guilt, pride, loss of innocence, have to walk a fine line in their story telling. This movie falls apart with it's inability to artfully hold the story together. The danger when dealing with such subject matter is that in order to make it feel real the characters must show emotional damage. The Reader does a masterful job of showing people who's lives have all been damaged by sin. However, the trap that can be sprung, and that this movie falls for, is that the characters become unidentifiable with. The cold nature of the main characters, especially Hana, keeps the audience at arms length from growing attached to anyone. Watching a 2+ hour movie without anyone to feel for is a hollow feeling.
To best sum up my feelings about this movie I will draw a comparison to Benjamin Button. Both movies have such strong source material to draw from, a wealth of talent and limitless potential but yet neither accomplished much that hasn't already been done. The Reader has been done before and done better by other movies. It leaves too many loose ends to be considered a strong movie, interesting and important plot developments are either not explored or left hanging. Winslet is by far the best part of this film, it's unfortunate that the rest of the film didn't live up to her performance.