Truly, Madly, Deeply

Sometimes there are those films that become hard to watch in light of an actor's passing. Dead Poets Society becomes more heartbreaking following Robin Williams' suicide as does the Liam Neeson storyline in Love Actually in light of Natasha Richardson's accident. A sense of discomfort passes through as we watch Philip Seymour Hoffman age in Synecdoche, New York.

In regards with Anthony Minghella's Truly, Madly, Deeply, it can be hard to watch Alan Rickman's performance now. Why? His character Jamie returns to his girlfriend Nina (Juliet Stevenson) after his death. But at the same time, there's an added sense of poignancy within Rickman's work.

With Truly, Madly, Deeply being a film about grieving, it shows how hard it can be for someone to move on after a loss. Some struggle to carry on as before, others resort to drastic means to numb the pain. But soon they learn to live with the loss.

Minghella also shows Truly, Madly, Deeply as a story on how hope isn't lost when all looks bleak. Yes, you may feel as though there's no end in sight to your pain. But just remember that while the good times might end suddenly, so too can the bad times.

Truly, Madly, Deeply shows how sometimes in grieving one tries their best to remember the deceased's better qualities. But the element of nostalgia may cast over the deceased's actual personality. There's nothing wrong in remembering the bad times as well as the good. After all, life is full of both of these.

My Rating: ****1/2

Cold Mountain

Anthony Minghella is known for three movies: The English Patient (which got him an Oscar), The Talented Mr. Ripley (my personal favorite) and Cold Mountain.

As the Civil War starts coming to an end, wounded soldier Inman (Jude Law) makes the perilous journey to get back home to Cold Mountain, North Carolina and his sweetheart Ada Monroe (Nicole Kidman).

The performances from Law and Kidman are really good. I fail to see the backlash towards Renee Zellweger. I mean, she wasn't that bad though I gotta agree that she didn't really deserve that Oscar. The rest of the cast is just crazy. A number of notable names are in supporting roles or bit parts (Brendan Gleeson, Ray Winstone, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Donald Sutherland, Giovanni Ribisi, Natalie Portman and Cillian Murphy to name a few). I also love the fact that most of the cast isn't from America and yet they speak with flawless Southern accents. The cinematography is lovely (well, what do you expect from a Minghella picture?). The rest of the movie? I thought the romance was a tad too gushy for my tastes (though Law and Kidman do have convincing chemistry). I also thought it could have been a little shorter. But still, I managed to like Cold Mountain enough to give it the rating I did.

My Rating: ****

The English Patient

There has been mixed response towards The English Patient. Some love it to pieces (like this fellow) while others are bored to death by it (a la Elaine from Seinfeld).

Count Laszlo de Almasy (Ralph Fiennes) is a Hungarian map maker who is employed by the Royal Geographical Society to chart the vast expanses of the Sahara Desert along with several other prominent explorers. As World War II unfolds, Almasy enters into a world of love, betrayal and politics.

I'll start off with the obvious: I really liked The English Patient, though I thought it was slow in some parts. The cinematography is GORGEOUS. The score is just beautiful. The performances from Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas and Juliette Binoche, as well as Colin Firth and Willem Dafoe, are top notch. There has been debate if The English Patient deserved to win Best Picture over Fargo. After seeing both of them, it's hard to say which deserved that coveted statuette since both are excellent, well-acted films. And to those who avoid The English Patient for its slow pace and length: give it a chance. You might like it. I know I did.

My Rating: ****1/2

The Talented Mr. Ripley

Ever since Alfred Hitchcock left an impact on Hollywood, many have tried to copy his success. There have been many imitators but few have had the same effect.

After being assumed by a wealthy couple as a friend of their son, Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) agrees to go to Italy to bring back the Greenleafs' son Dickie (Jude Law), even though they've never met. Tom manages to charm both Dickie and his girlfriend Marge Sherwood (Gwyneth Paltrow) at first, but Dickie tires of Tom, causing major problems later on.

This is something you should take note of when you watch The Talented Mr. Ripley. When we're first introduced to Tom, the real Tom, he is perceived as an undignified square. But when he's pretending to be someone he's not, he becomes a much more interesting person.

The Talented Mr. Ripley is perfectly cast (along with Damon, Paltrow and Law, it also features Cate Blanchett and Philip Seymour Hoffman). Damon is great as the cunning con. Law is probably the first actor since Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire to play a character that just oozes sexuality. And like Brando's Stanley, Law's Dickie is self-centered and he uses people for his own gain. To sum it up, The Talented Mr. Ripley is a very sexy and great thriller.

My Rating: *****