In this story-within-a-story, Anna is an actress starring opposite Mike in a period piece about the forbidden love between their respective characters, Sarah and Charles. Both actors are involved in serious relationships, but the passionate nature of the script leads to an off-camera love affair as well. While attempting to maintain their composure and professionalism, Anna and Mike struggle to come to terms with their infidelity.
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Reviews
Slow pace in the most part of the movie.
Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
A film is being made of a story, set in 19th century England, about Charles (Jeremy Irons), a biologist who is engaged to be married, but who falls in love with outcast Sarah (Meryl Streep), whose melancholy makes her leave him after a short, but passionate affair.I did not think this would be my kind of movie. A period piece romance with Meryl Streep? Sounds pretty boring. But instead, we get this really interesting movie-in-movie, where the action we see as real can be cut away from at any time. And then this also allows us two stories in one, which have more than a few parallels.Streep is obviously a gifted actress and the best of her generation. Irons is great, as well, though not nearly as recognized. He makes all that he touches turn to gold.
Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons play dual roles as Sarah, an outcast woman in 19th century England, and respected biologist Charles, already engaged to the daughter of a powerful man, who finds himself attracted to the melancholy, mysterious, and beautiful Sarah.This is contrasted with their "real life" counterparts Anna and Mike, who are actors portraying their romance in a film. Their lives mirror the fictional ones closely, as their affair has similar consequences to that of Sarah and Charles, only with a different outcome...Though the juxtaposition between the 19th and 20th centuries is at first jarring, it does eventually work, since the performances and direction are so good. A compelling romantic drama that does effectively illustrate the difference between Hollywood and Reality, and how the viewer will inevitably prefer one over the other...
I don't really think this is all that good a film. I mean, it's not exactly bad in any way, and it still left me interested n it throughout to continue it, but it was mostly out of respect to Streep and me wanting to finish her filmography. It does drag quite a bit throughout. But one reason to seek it out is Streep, who is marvelous playing the American and the American herself playing a character. She's definitely worth it, and I mean, it's Streep. That's why I kept with the film, because I do want to end up seeing al of her nominated performances, but if you're expecting a Sophie's Choice performance, you won't get it here at all. As it is I give it a C
I have watched this movie in its entirety once and attempted to rewatch it a few years later. I was quickly reminded of how boring and drawn out it is, and even though it's beautiful I needed something w/ more of a pace. If you are a Meryl Streep fan, she gives a knockout performance and the movie is worth watching for her alone. However this movie flows like The Bridges of Madison County, another amazing performance in a film that I will never rewatch b/c it is so slow, but she embodies those characters well. The cinematography, lighting, shots, locations are outstanding, yet make the story move slowly and beautifully, yet the story is hard to follow and makes u so bored that it is hard to separate story lines. All in all, a beautiful film if you do not have digital cable, youtube, myspace, facebook, or an iphone, b/c those will make u distracted and lose focus. This movie would not be enjoyable to anyone ADD, ADHD, w/ a short attention span, who did not go to an Ivey League school, or someone who takes a lot of breaks. If you are in a hospital bed or retired you might enjoy this slow-moving long journey.