Good, could've been great.

Rating: 6/10 (20 July 2015)

This is a good movie. Mirren is excellent, Reynolds passable, but overall a good film.
Reynolds' character is under-developed, and that takes away from the films overall impact. A little more family background on reynolds character would've gone a long way. Instead, we don't feel the emotional implications concerning his ancestry, and some of those scenes just aren't as effective as they could have been. Not the case with Mirren - her story is complete. This could have been Really good if reynolds character had been better developed.
Otherwise,.. the film is excellent. I don't know if we should blame the casting, the writing, or the performance, and i do normally like Reynolds. I don't want it to sound like its a bad film, because it's not. Quite good actually.
The flashback scenes are excellent, the score is incredible, and the story itself is mesmerizing. Yet, it's still just a 'good' film that stands a marginal chance at holding onto a top-25 for 2015 spot come next spring.
U might like this if you liked: The Book Thief( a notch better), Sarah's Key(actually not as good as WIG), The Queen(a bit better), or Escape From Sorbibor((better/great sleeper).
69/100 Defo worth a rental. Soft 7