You get what you would expect from Knightley — a good performance of the sort she excels at; but Fiennes impressed me more. I never really felt any chemistry between the Duchess and Charles, and that basically undermined everything for me.
The self-congratulatory American-as-apple-pie feel of this film felt irritatingly disingenuous. Hanks and Roberts play caricatures, while Hoffman seems to burst on stage into a completely different film; I’m not sure if that is a strike for or against him… but I think I might have rather seen the film Hoffman thought [...]
Like all of Gibson’s films, I really enjoyed this. It is actually a far simpler story than I expected, keeping the focus on the personal trials of Jaguar Paw — it seems misleading when people describe this film as an “epic.” A very exciting, yet moving, film.
4 and a half stars (out [...]
I think there are two aspects to how people will think about this film: 1. As a film, and 2. As a representation of the Gospels/Jesus.
As a film, The Passion of the Christ is an astounding achievement. I think everyone who comes out of the theatre will say that they’ve simply never [...]
An absolutely perfect film. With action and romance perfectly blended, it has something for everyone, like the classics of old.
5 stars (out of 5)
A few years ago, I had the pleasure to correspond with Douglas Gresham. (FYI, Douglas is Joy’s son — thus C.S. Lewis step-son — played by Joseph Mazzello in this film.) I had recently seen Shadowlands, and so I asked Douglas how “true to life” the picture was. He told me that some details (dates, [...]