Two and a quarter hours long, this film. Two and a quarter hours.
Now I'm not the type to balk at a film purely because it's long - I've done both Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter marathons quite happily. What I do object to, however, is a two and a half hour film in which nothing happens.
This film, based on a book I will no longer be reading by Kazuo Ishiguro, follows the character of Stevens (Anthony Hopkins), a butler at a stately home in the 1930s, and has two main threads. One is that of his master, Lord Darlington, who - despite being a sympathetic and honourable man - finds his sympathy for the Germans beginning the descent of a slippery Nazi slope. The other storyline follows Stevens crush on the younger, bossy and proud housekeeper, Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson). That's pretty much it. For TWO AND A QUARTER HOURS.
Now I love period dramas, I love subtle romances, and I enjoy a good wartime movie. And I did really enjoy this film for the first hour and a half or so, but then I started to think "Right, come on, it really is time to get going now." And I kept thinking that until the credits rolled. It's tragic really, because there were so many beautiful things about the movie: the dialogue was intelligent and delicate, the acting (particularly of Anthony Hopkins) was simply fantastic, visually it was an absolute treat if you're into old-school English stately homes (which I kinda am...) and the story was told in a very sensitive, quietly touching way. If there had been an ending, this would have easily got * * * *. Alas, there wasn't.
Basic summary: an ending-less, long, not exactly pace-y, but still a sensitive and serene period romance adapted from a critically acclaimed novel.
Rating: * * (average)
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