This movie is a pleasant viewing experience as long as you haven't read the book. I was curious to see it, because I was a fan of the book but I never thought it could be made into a movie. I was right. It didn't translate well into film at all. The power of the story was in the language, the amazing writing by Mark Helprin; without that, the story is somewhat silly and shallow. When we die we all become "stars" in the sky; blah blah blah. The director makes things worse by adding a lot of supernatural elements which make things even sillier. If Russell Crowe weren't such a good actor this would have been truly laughable. Colin Farrell is a dream as Peter Lake, adorable enough to carry the whole movie. And Jessica Brown Findley is ethereally beautiful despite the fact that she is supposed to be deathly ill. Only in the movies do dying people look this good.
Review of Winter's Tale
