dennisfisher This movie contains excellent acting, a surfeit of creativity, lovely costumes and visuals, and is, without question, the single most depressing movie I have ever seen. One should be wary of expectations when viewing a movie, but the title, the casting, and the advertisements gave the impression the viewer was going to see a lighthearted English period piece.Instead it gives a relentlessly bleak view of humanity, then blind sides the viewer with a plot development that is so horrifying as to defy description. When I read other reviews talk about the different aspects of the movie I wanted to scream "So what?!". One plot development overpowers the rest of the movie like a gunshot to the gut cancels perception of a hangnail, making the rest of the movie irrelevant. The only work of literature I can compare it too is Kafka's "The Metamorphosis".It escapes me how dozens of people can devote months of their lives and millions of dollars to create something so willfully downbeat and depressing, all to no real end. Pathology and despair and heartache can be handled effectively in cinema, "Apocalypse Now" comes to mind. But this movie just makes you want to take a Valium and watch an Ace Ventura movie.I repeat. This is the single most depressing movie I have ever seen. If that sound appealing to you, seek it out and prepare yourself for the "Citizen Kane" of heartbreak and anguish.

manipool I just watched this movie today. It was interesting, but weird in the beginning, and I must admit I rented it only to see Alan Rickman, an actor I've enjoyed watching thoroughly since I saw him in Die Hard and Quigley Down Under. (I actually liked him more than Bruce Willis or Tom Selleck and they were both pretty hunky) Alan Rickman is one of those actors who frequently plays villains that I truly love watching, (Gary Oldman being another) They are both handsome in offputting ways and have something about them that makes them unique. (loads of acting talent, mesmerizing voice, deep eyes) Anyway, at first I was intrigued by the story of young Stella, but I was quickly bored after not seeing Mr. Rickman more than halfway through the movie. I fastwarded some and saw him riding in on his motorcycle and then enjoyed the rest of the movie until he fell off the boardwalk....boo!!! I wouldn't recommend this film unless you like convoluted stories about nasty people doing nasty things to each other. I would however, recommend it for the acting, in that vein, it's pretty believable.

Vampyr_Girl I liked the film and, though I'm sure there were countless other ways that they could've still retained its twisted plot in a more concise way, I enjoyed the uniqueness of its story. It was certainly a sad story and it did catch me by surprise. Alan Rickman was terrific, but I wish I could've seen more of his character because for the amount of time he's in the film it simply wasn't enough, especially since he appeared to be a main character. However, it was entertaining and I really liked it and its originality.

Snapes_lovr Well, this movie has definitely changed my views on Alan Rickman. He just blew my mind with his passionate performance...there isn't another to explain it.Now the plot was very complex so you did need to see it more than once to get the gist of every little twist. I'll tell you there are allot of twists in this movie. But thats what makes it a must see.I recommend this movie to anyone thats in need of a good slap in the face. I know that I sure did.