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Neil Jordan brings this Graham Greene novel to the big screen
but the result is lifeless and dull with no hint of romance.
Julianne Moore is nominated for an Oscar for her role as Sarah
Miles who is married to Henry Miles (Stephen Rea) but finds
love in the arms of writer Maurice Bendrix (Ralph Fiennes) during
the Second World War. This affair ends abruptly and mysteriously
so a few years later Bendrix hires a private detective to find
what Sarah is up to. In the process he unravels some of Sarah's
secrets and is forced to re-assess much of what he thought had
been happening to him.
This movie does a great job of creating a broody wartime atmosphere
through careful selection of mood music and colours. The effect
is dreariness which unfortunately pervades into all other aspects
of the film. The' romance' between Sarah and Maurice consists
entirely of some randomly put together sex scenes. Very rarely
do you see either of these two love birds smiling or giving
any indication that they enjoy each other's company, especially
Fiennes who has the same blank expression on his face throughout
the whole film.
There isn't much more that I can really say about this film.
Once Sarah's secrets are revealed the rest of the movie seems
pointless and the last 45 minutes tend to drag.
For me the high point was Ian Hart's comical detective Mr Parkis.
The way Parkis tries to step around delicate issues while most
of the time getting completely the wrong idea was hilarious
and helped to lighten up what was otherwise a dull story.
Yet another book adaptation gone wrong. If you are a hopeless
romantic you might see something in this film that I didn't.
Otherwise, go and see something happier.
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