Robert J. Maxwell TV Guide describes this as something like "two gamblers meet on a boat," but it's much more than that. It's a story of romance, religion, and ruin -- but not hopeless ruin.The first half presents Raif Fiennes as a semi-deacon of a strict English sect, a young man who has been beaten into neurotic submission to the extent that almost EVERYTHING is forbidden. I'm not sure he wouldn't hesitate before scratching an itch. Estranged from his father for some slight, he supports himself by playing cards, giving the rest to charity. He leaves Oxford aboard the Leviathan for a ministry in Sidney. At the same time we meet Cate Blanchett, an ambitious young lady who enjoys gambling, does well at it, acquires a glass factory, and moves to Australia aboard the Leviathan.The two of them DO meet aboard the ship and spend a lot of time together in Sidney, playing poker and making wagers on all sorts of silly thing, such as who can finish scrubbing the floor first. They're in love, of course, and Blanchett more or less offers herself to him -- she's something of a rebel -- but he shakily backs off.The second half resembles "Fitzcarraldo," when she furnishes the components of a small chapel made entirely of iron and glass plates. Fiennes' job is to schlep it up overland through tough country to an isolated settlement. He gets the job done but it all ends rather badly. Maybe. I mean, he dies a horrifying death by drowning, but then he sees his smiling father reaching out to him, and then a smiling Blanchett reaching to him. I don't know what to make of scenes like that.It's a very genteel story as befits the times. Towards the end, Fiennes does get balled by a horny widow but only when he's half conscious from exhaustion and illness. I didn't know it was possible and I'm still dubious.The photography is crisp and at times epic. The art direction would be hard to improve upon. Blanchett and Fiennes play well together as two somewhat wild redheads. In a way, despite the skilled acting on everyone's part, what's most memorable is Cate Blanchett. She's an actress of considerable range, of course, but she's transcendently beautiful at times in this film -- that long face with its slitted blue eyes, that wide generous mouth, and that impossible, fluorescent nose. It's a face you could fall into.

gelman@attglobal.net Here's a movie which appears to have a lot going for it: adaptation of a Booker Prize novel, directed by Gillian Armstrong, Ralph Fiennes straight from his triumph in the English Patient, and Cate Blanchett in her first significant role. I haven't read the novel -- and after seeing the movie I certainly won't. This is a strange story (whose plot I won't repeat for anyone wishing to be surprised) with characters that are completely unconvincing, despite the best efforts of Fiennes and Blanchett, in a story that might serve the fantastical imagination of certain directors. Gillian Armstrong is not one of those. Instead we are given a semi-realistic exposition of a tale that never inspires the suspension-of-disbelief necessary to put it across. Pay no attention to the names on the marquee. This is not a good movie, merely an odd one.

thegoauld This is a beautiful movie. That's the best way I can find to describe it. It's odd and quirky and desperately sad, and it will stick in your memory for a long time to come. The leads are fabulous, I read the book before I saw the film and they were every bit as I'd imagined them. I'd recommend this film to anyone who wants to watch a romantic movie that follows none of the clichés of romantic movies. The soundtrack is great too, haunting and utterly, utterly perfect. Everything about this movie is right, the casting, the script, the look of the sets. The only reason I haven't given this movie 10 is that it doesn't measure up to the book it is based on.

Framescourer Armstrong's screen adaptation of Peter Carey's bestseller is great fun - the character quirks that saturate the far from straightforward story are wonderfully realised by Fiennes (primarily) and Blanchette (looks great with dark hair). Fiennes can do indecipherable and broody for the rest of his life and make a good living but this is ample demonstration of his fluency with open disfunction.Despite these considerable points of interest however, the film suffers from it's inability to engage John Doe at the local Odeon - it can be a surreal experience. Watch it with your other half when you're both really loved-up. 5/10