The story line isn't all that important here. It's a young man getting a beautiful mail order bride, who turns out to be trouble.
It's the classical romantic style that really picks this film up. Nicole Kidman has never been "hotter", no offense meant to her. But here she is the ultimate in romantic allure.
In true old fashioned romantic style, the woman is the mystery, and the man is the one who struggles and looks. Too often the film makers have turned this around, and it just doesn't work. Now, we get back to old fashioned basics.
It doesn't work the other way around because young men are always looking. There is no such thing as a "confident young man" who has hero quality.
A third character shows us the "confident young man". This is the guy who was lucky enough to have a criminal mentor in his youth, one lucky enough to see past the lies that elders tell other children to keep them in line of being good losers.
Our hero is one such "regular" guy, who didn't have the loving parent, guardian, or mentor. Such a guy is doomed to mediocrity, to never being elected or promoted, without regal family ties.
Our heroine is the bad girl who begins with the bad guy. In fact, the hero finds himself at the mercy of three criminals, and he is in a hopeless predicament.
The worst of them is the third character I spoke of, who is a human monster, plain and simple. The fourth character is rather likable, and provides a pretty good balance. It's important to have such a balance in the fourth character.
What transpires is a gamut of emotions. The story is second. This is a stylistic romance to the max. Whenever Nicole is on, the imagery is superb. When she is off camera, the imagery flattens. She makes the impression. This is a very well directed piece. It isn't the highest in story telling, but ranks up near the top in artistic romance.
It's the classical romantic style that really picks this film up. Nicole Kidman has never been "hotter", no offense meant to her. But here she is the ultimate in romantic allure.
In true old fashioned romantic style, the woman is the mystery, and the man is the one who struggles and looks. Too often the film makers have turned this around, and it just doesn't work. Now, we get back to old fashioned basics.
It doesn't work the other way around because young men are always looking. There is no such thing as a "confident young man" who has hero quality.
A third character shows us the "confident young man". This is the guy who was lucky enough to have a criminal mentor in his youth, one lucky enough to see past the lies that elders tell other children to keep them in line of being good losers.
Our hero is one such "regular" guy, who didn't have the loving parent, guardian, or mentor. Such a guy is doomed to mediocrity, to never being elected or promoted, without regal family ties.
Our heroine is the bad girl who begins with the bad guy. In fact, the hero finds himself at the mercy of three criminals, and he is in a hopeless predicament.
The worst of them is the third character I spoke of, who is a human monster, plain and simple. The fourth character is rather likable, and provides a pretty good balance. It's important to have such a balance in the fourth character.
What transpires is a gamut of emotions. The story is second. This is a stylistic romance to the max. Whenever Nicole is on, the imagery is superb. When she is off camera, the imagery flattens. She makes the impression. This is a very well directed piece. It isn't the highest in story telling, but ranks up near the top in artistic romance.