Winter’s Tale Review

RYAN: Winter’s Tale is a new romantic fantasy starring Colin Farrell who’s gorgeous in the movie.  I’ve never been attracted to him before but he had a very wen McGregor in Moulin Rouge thing going on here. The whole cast is stellar and it’s a profoundly deep and spiritual movie that makes you believe in the power of love and life and light and miracles. I loved it.

CHUCK: I didn’t love it but I liked it.  It’s definitely an escapist movie.  The only thing that kind of didn’t do it for me was that I feel like it could have been so much more.  It’s written, produced and directed by Akiva Goldsman.  It’s his directorial debut.

RYAN: He’s an Oscar winning screenwriter (A Beautiful Mind) and has written and produced many amazing movies, like The Da Vinci Code, Practical Magic, so many…

CHUCK: And he’s directed TV but the scope of this movie is so huge, I think he was in over his head a bit.

RYAN: I couldn’t disagree more.  It is an epic film both in the scope of time but also in the story and theme and I felt the full impact of it.  He did a good job as a director here.

CHUCK: It i a profound storyline about the connectedness between us and the purpose of our lives.

RYAN: It hits it.  It’s one of the most beautiful messages in a movie.  It resonated very deeply.  The effects were effective but not the highest budge effects you’ll see; but they worked.

CHUCK: They did the job.  Colin was fantastic and sincere and the female lead was wonderful.

RYAN: Jessica Brown Findlay, best know from TV’s Downton Abbey.  She’s, like, a healthier version of Keira Knightley.  She’s exquisite and their connection was incredible.  You root for their first kiss.  It’s a magical Valentine of a movie and in a nontraditional way.  It actually reminds me a bit of the story in Frozen in that it’s unpredictable and love takes many forms.

CHUCK: Russell Crowe was great.

RYAN: He does his best Batman-voice impression at the beginning but that got better.  But seriously, he was basically playing Javert, the same character he played in Les Mis, on the pursuit.  But he’s even better in this than he was in Les Mis.

CHUCK: I wish he had been as menacing in Les Mis as he was in this. A lot of the character actors were great – William Hurt, Eva Marie Saint… But there is one stunt casting, a certain A-list actor, that I didn’t like.

RYAN: Really? I loved him.  We’re not saying who because I won’t do spoilers here but we’ll have to agree to disagree on that point.  I think it was really cool seeing him.

CHUCK: He’s horrible though. I don’t like him as an actor.

RYAN: I do but let’s stop discussing him because no one knows who w’re talking about (laughs). But one of my favorite actresses is in this – Jennifer Connelly.  I love every single thing she does and she basically carries the whole last third of the film with her innocence and believability.

CHUCK: She’s great.  I would have liked to have seen her used even more.

RYAN: We obviously had different experiences.  I wouldn’t change a thing about this film.  It’s beautiful in both a haunting and loving way.  I’ve heard Colin say in recent press interviews that this is a story that completely lacks an edge and it’s true.  It’s a fascinatingly simple love letter to life that’s told with intrigue and excitement.

CHUCK: It’s an ambitious story to adapt to screen and I think the director was in a bit over his head but I really did enjoy it; I would have just liked a bit more exposition.

RYAN: It’s a sweet, beautiful movie that unfolds moment by moment as it should – keeping you on your toes about what’s really going on and what direction the story is going in.  I loved putting it together and figuring it out and I have to admit, by the end, my eyes were welling up.  It’s a nice, deeply meaningful movie for Valentine’s Day or for anyone who loves romance and fantasy.

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