I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

As is so often the case, I'm very late in getting around to "The English Patient", in this case it's been a couple of decades. I recall the fanfare surrounding the movie when it was released, subsequently repeated when it was the winner of nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Told in a series of flashbacks, the story recounts the nature of an affair between Hungarian Count Laszlo de Almasy (Ralph Fiennes) and the married Englishwoman Katharine Clifton (Kristin Scott Thomas). Their passionate relationship ends in a double tragedy for both principals in a confluence of unrelated events, though it could be maintained just as Almasy stated in my summary line, that he was responsible for her death. One may argue the circumstances of Geoffrey Clinton's (Colin Firth) plane crash, though to my mind his attempt at murder/suicide failed only in the respect that his intended victim was the only one who survived. I can readily understand the conflicted opinions other reviewers bring to the table here. It's a difficult thing to weigh the difference between an unfaithful spouse and an affair that arises out of true love. On that score, I tend to reserve my sympathies on the side of Katharine and Almasy. Yet the story line throws in a complicated betrayal on the part of The Count, who offered his services to the Nazis in order to return to his injured lover in the desert. In that regard, I do not absolve Almasy for the courage of his convictions, even when he rationalizes that "thousands of people DID die, just different people". Evoking the grand sweep and epic proportions of "Lawrence of Arabia", the film is a haunting tale of love endured under compromising circumstances that ends unsparingly for the characters and viewer alike. The performances of all the principals are noteworthy, with a special nod to Juliette Binoche in her role as Almasy's nurse as his intricate story unfolds. To be fair, the film requires some patience, as it's nearly three hour run time will test the resolve of uncommitted viewers, though many will find their forbearance well rewarded.

One of my top 5 of all time. Fantastic story. Great acting. Sensual passion. Beautiful costumes. Just love everything about this movie.

The most impressive aspect of The English Patient is its devotion to the emotions, turbulence and tragedy of the time, World War II. With the world turned upside down by a war and the end of Europe's royal class, viewers are taken on a visually stunning journey of love, betrayal, constant loss and the ever-so-slow passing of the central character, Count Laszlo de Almasy, brilliantly played by Ralph Fiennes. Many reviewers term this a "reader's movie," and so it is. It's also a movie of the visual and musical arts, with scenes throughout the work stretching the bounds of fixed concepts. I often listen to the soundtrack by Gabriel Yared, with wide swaths of themes reveling in the adventures of archeologists in the Sahara and discoveries of Italian monastic art. Countering the classic themes are popular jazz and big band pieces from the 1930s and 40s, with de Almasy renowned for knowing the lyrics to every piece from the era. The characters throughout the story are classic, which weaves an enduring tableau of emotions, memories and the realization that as much as many view each era as different, there is always a sense of the retelling of stories, best stated with Casablanca's song, As Time Goes By. Lastly, there's a simple reason The English Patient earned nine Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Anthony Minghella: It's one of the best movies of all time. Gabriel Yared, composer and wide range of popular pieces from the 1930s and 40s.

I completely agree with other comments here: hopelessly romantic, filmed in a similar pace to the original writing, wonderful panoramic scenes, nice romantic theme throughout and steeped in steeped in pseudo-historical reference. But ultimately a cinematic disaster with so many mistakes, technical and cinematic errors, which is why it is often a bye-word for disaster amongst cinema lecturers and students. And still it won 9 Oscars, including: -Best Picture Saul Zaentz -Best Director Anthony Minghella (before cutting off Caravaggio's fingers, one of the German officers asks in German "what about the Geneva Convention?" which is curious considering that the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners wasn't signed until 1949 and came into effect in 1950) -Best Cinematography John Seale (despite crew or equipment or shadows of same being visible in almost every filmed scene) -Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Stuart Craig Stephenie McMillan (US flags in 1942 would not have 50 stars but 48) -Best Costume Design Ann Roth (despite US soldiers wearing Russian WWII army helmets and 3 German officers wearing conflicting badges and rank insignia (one being a Waffen SS officer, none of whom served in North Africa)-Best Sound Walter Murch Mark Berger David Parker Christopher Newman (despite thunder incorrectly and unnaturally added to a sequence of a thunderstorm, and the flash, bang and shock-wave of an exploding bomb being experienced simultaneously at a distance) -Best Film Editing Walter Murch (Despite 3 scenes being sequenced incorrectly in the final movie)One must ask why Ondaatje/Minghela were so sadistic? An apparently injured (terminally) pilot is found with horrific burns in North Africa (Libya?)) and is carried by road to Egypt where he is put on a hospital ship and transported to Sicily and proceeds to follow the front line up through Italy until a Canadian nursing officer takes it upon herself to leave the convoy to save the patient any discomfort etc etc WHEN IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EASIER TO simply place the patient on board the hospital ship in Tobruk or one of the many functional Allied ports in North Africa and send him directly back to Britain (as they thought he was English)...seems a little mean to the poor guy? The scriptwriter should have known that Ethiopia is not, as Katherine observed, in North Africa...tsk tsk! A disaster if a movie it may be, but it still strums the heart-strings....gets a tear every time...and I must have seen it 15 times in all