The bowl languishes in the shop until Maggie finds it several years later, when their perfect little lives began to fall apart. It is the key that started everything and ended everything. From England to France to Italy, the scenery is of breathtaking castles and gardens. The movie is good at putting women with long, flowing dresses in the middle of the greenery or marble for the dramatic effect. However, the movie failed to carry out the execution with flair.
Metaphors abound in the movie, and the use is admirable.
Characters talk about one thing, but are really referring to something else, and the audience has no trouble reading between the lines. However, this main strength is also the movie' s downfall, for the story line and the dialogues are so easy to follow there are no brainteasers at all. The tale plods on at a steady pace to the point of complete predictability. Not once can the audience completely identify with the characters. Sure, there would be some exciting moments, since the story is, after all, a love story, but those instances that make the heart pound and the fingers cross to root for or against the hero and heroine are just not here.