Movie Review

Winter's Tale

Akiva Goldsman, who somehow both scripted the awful Batman and Robin and won an Oscar for writing A Beautiful Mind, adapted Winter’s Tale from a novel by Mark Helprin. An awful lot has been lost in translation however. In 1916 New York, Colin Farrell is a handsome thief who used to work for Russell Crowe who is an Irish gangster but also a demon who works for Will Smith who is the devil. Farrell has a magic horse and falls in love with Jessica Brown Findlay who is terminally ill. Also, Farrell time travels to present day, where Jennifer Connolly turns up with a new plot, seemingly from a different film. There are also lots of lens flares and flashes and moralistic voice overs about each person being born with a miracle and becoming stars when we’re gone.

It’s all a bit silly really, but silliness can be great if done well. Unfortunately Winter’s Tale is executed quite poorly. It’s convoluted, overlong and soppy, which is a shame for its cast, who are all quite commendable. Russell Crowe is better than what he’s given and Connolly seems a bit bored but Farrell almost sells every silly line. His scenes with Jessica Brown Findlay are the only real shining points. Their chemistry is so strong it makes you wonder what might have happened if the messy magic storylines were excised and their romance more fully explored. And that’s the worst part, the idea I’m left with that maybe there was a good film in there somewhere.

Not really a love story and not quite a fantasy. Winter’s Tale is not much at all. 1/5.

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