Kate Winslet is a wonderful actor. She can't carry an entire film.

Rating: 7/10 (27 December 2008)

The Reader (2008), directed by Stephen Daldry, is a coming-of-age movie that begins in postwar Germany. The film stars Kate Winslet, who is one of the great actors of our time. She turns in another excellent performance in a difficult role. Ralph Fiennes does his usual workmanlike job, and Bruno Ganz and Lena Olin appear in supporting roles. Olin has a great scene near the end of the movie; Ganz appears to be walking through the film without really noticing where he is.
The film deals with the question of German guilt, and also with the complex relationship between the characters played by Winslet and Fiennes. (There's also a subplot about Fiennes and his daughter, but that never goes anywhere.)
Given all the fine actors, and the plot potential of this movie, I was expecting a truly memorable film experience. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. The film plods along, with a fair amount of histrionics, but not much else, until it gradually winds down and fades out as the credits start to roll.
Winslet is talented and beautiful and Fiennes is talented and handsome. I'd like to see them together in a film that doesn't hinge on a "mystery" that's not all that mysterious.