BEFORE: I just finished logging in all of the Super Bowl spots for work, and I have to say I'm not very impressed. Too many spots that just punted it by using nature footage, stock montages and aerial shots, without any real storylines or surprises. (But at least there weren't as many fart jokes as there were last year.) Considering the way the game turned out, I'm thinking that viewership really dropped off in the second half - so it's a good thing that companies didn't waste a lot of money buying up that air-time.
A last-minute addition tonight, TCM ran it today as part of their Oscar-related programming, and I couldn't deny the Michelle Pfeiffer + romance connection. I know I said no additions between now and June, so this is going to push everything back a day in February, and I have to delete something (OK, move, not delete) so I'll still hit my target on April 24. (Hmm, what is THAT?)
THE PLOT: Tale of 19th century New York high society in which a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin.
AFTER: Unfortunately, this was boring with a capital "B". One review called this "Martin Scorsese's best" - best what? Best at putting me to sleep? Whatever thrill there may be found in an illicit romance, it sure wasn't depicted on the screen. Congratulations on making a secret romance boring - it's supposed to be exciting!
I guess the depiction of 1870's NYC life is sort of interesting - people going to the opera, people going to fancy balls. But that's about it, the rest was just people pining for each other or spreading gossip about each other. No car chases, no shoot-outs? How can you even call this a Scorsese film, let alone his best?
Film is a visual medium. Do you know what doesn't work well in a visual medium? Self-doubt, interior conflict and disillusionment. These all have to be expressed through dialogue, which makes a film very talky-talky, or if not expressed, then it appears as if nothing is going on.
Plus, who is narrating? I mean, I know what actress is narrating the film, but since she doesn't play a role, what's her connection to the on-screen action? Is she supposed to be the author, the voice of God, or what? This was quite confusing.
I gotta get out of this period-piece rut, it's just not working for me. Maybe completing a Michelle Pfeiffer triple-play with something more modern will help.
Also starring Daniel Day-Lewis (last seen in "Lincoln"), Winona Ryder (last heard in "Frankenweenie"), Geraldine Chaplin, Mary Beth Hurt, Jonathan Pryce (last seen in "The New World"), June Squibb, Miriam Margolyes, Michael Gough, with cameos from Thomas Gibson, Norman Lloyd, Robert Sean Leonard (last seen in "Tape") and the voice of Joanne Woodward (last seen in "The Long, Hot Summer").
RATING: 3 out of 10 miniature dogs
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