There are so many positive aspects to this movie and it is not boring - but there is a edge that may result in a bad aftertaste for some viewers.
The performances are good and the scenery quite gorgeous and absorbing. The problem is that the movie is not quite funny enough to be a full-blown comedy and at the same time it includes poignant, almost tragic elements.
Jessica Biel is very good as John's (played by Ben Barnes) glamorous new wife, Larita. Larita is beautiful, worldly and strong but also self-absorbed, manipulative and - yes - in some respects pretty obnoxious. So while it is entertaining to watch her as a character, ultimately she was not a truly sympathetic character. Ben Barnes does well as John. He is fine as confident, young, sexy guy who is completely attracted to Larita - but unprepared for the responsibilities of marriage and uncertain about his role as a husband and how to relate to his parents and sisters.
Kristen Scott Thomas (Mrs. Whittaker)and Colin Firth (Mr. Whittaker) - who played wife and husband in "The English Patient" - are stuck in a failed and bitter marriage. As difficult and demanding as Mrs. Whittaker is depicted, Kristen Scott Thomas nonetheless manages to show the hurt that Mr. Whittaker has inflicted. It is not hard to imagine Mrs. Whittaker as a lovely young newlywed whose world was eventually crushed by a husband who was traumatized by the war and abandoned her emotionally. Like other women in such circumstances, she has assumed responsibility for running the household and family but has grown angrier and more controlling as time goes on. SPOILER.... The conventional view is to assume she is the "bad guy" in this story (and similar stories), but really, what person wants to be dumped and who doesn't react badly to rejection?
SPOILER....Colin Firth, the distant and removed Mr. Whittaker, looks great and it is not surprising that he attracts the notice of another, so to speak.
The end was not so surprising but kind of sad actually. This movie might have felt better if the characters were a bit sillier, not so good-looking - and the pain not so clear. Or maybe a completely different and unexpected ending....
The performances are good and the scenery quite gorgeous and absorbing. The problem is that the movie is not quite funny enough to be a full-blown comedy and at the same time it includes poignant, almost tragic elements.
Jessica Biel is very good as John's (played by Ben Barnes) glamorous new wife, Larita. Larita is beautiful, worldly and strong but also self-absorbed, manipulative and - yes - in some respects pretty obnoxious. So while it is entertaining to watch her as a character, ultimately she was not a truly sympathetic character. Ben Barnes does well as John. He is fine as confident, young, sexy guy who is completely attracted to Larita - but unprepared for the responsibilities of marriage and uncertain about his role as a husband and how to relate to his parents and sisters.
Kristen Scott Thomas (Mrs. Whittaker)and Colin Firth (Mr. Whittaker) - who played wife and husband in "The English Patient" - are stuck in a failed and bitter marriage. As difficult and demanding as Mrs. Whittaker is depicted, Kristen Scott Thomas nonetheless manages to show the hurt that Mr. Whittaker has inflicted. It is not hard to imagine Mrs. Whittaker as a lovely young newlywed whose world was eventually crushed by a husband who was traumatized by the war and abandoned her emotionally. Like other women in such circumstances, she has assumed responsibility for running the household and family but has grown angrier and more controlling as time goes on. SPOILER.... The conventional view is to assume she is the "bad guy" in this story (and similar stories), but really, what person wants to be dumped and who doesn't react badly to rejection?
SPOILER....Colin Firth, the distant and removed Mr. Whittaker, looks great and it is not surprising that he attracts the notice of another, so to speak.
The end was not so surprising but kind of sad actually. This movie might have felt better if the characters were a bit sillier, not so good-looking - and the pain not so clear. Or maybe a completely different and unexpected ending....