As my wife and I waited in line to enter the theater, a guy leaving the 7pm show walked past us and said to no one in particular, "there ain't no way that movie made any damn sense, what the hell was that movie about ?"
Well, I knew what the movie was about, having read all of Mark Helprin's books. I also knew that the narrative for Winter's Tale was complex and multi-layered and probably makes a better novel than it would a movie. As we were exiting the movie I turned to my wife and said "there ain't no way that movie made any damn sense."
Winter's Tale does indeed make a better novel than it does a movie.
(The novel has won heaps of critical acclaim, and was included on a list complied by the New York Tines in which authors, editors and critics voted for the best novel of the last 25 years of the 20th century.)
However, the movie was beautifully filmed and part of the visual splendor can be attributed to the presence of the lovely Jessica Brown Findlay. Most of the acting is top notch though Colin Farrell seemed a bit confused as if he kept telling himself, "there ain't no way this movie makes any damn sense." In the end, great acting and cinematography can't save a film that just doesn't hold together. It would be interesting to hear from others who haven't read the novel about their take on the story.
