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THE READER
I'll admit it, I wasn't looking forward to the movie. I'm not sure how it got nominated best picture. I wish it didn't and the Wrestler, Doubt or any other of the movies I can name more deserving of this, but low and behold the Oscars just dropped the ball and I had to see this as part of the movie marathon. I can tell you that this movie just isn't good.
The acting is kind of the redeeming factor here. Kate Winslett does deliver an unbelievable performance as Hanna Schmitz. If she doesn't win the Oscar I'll be shocked, she perfectly nailed that German accent. David Kross does as well as he probably can for a newcomer and actually has the accent. Ralph Fiennes was the letdown of the cast. I can't remember his role, you could probably live without it, and Fiennes slips from good moments, to really bad moments.
The script also let me down. The first part was just reading, sex, and baths (yeah Kate Winslett's ta-tas!) Then the second part was just reading, she's a nazi, and holocaust. The story wasn't that complex, I couldn't give a rats as* if she can't read, and why she was so ashamed of it. But I did like that it kind of portrayed Hanna as a human, not just a nazi. But it just bored the hell out of me.
Steven Daldry's not to shabby though. He tells it in typical linear fashion, and most of his shots consist in one room for the first part. It's not much of an opportunity to be nominated for an Oscar, so why is it nominated? I can't honestly tell you.
Roger Deakins and Chris Menges, almost dropped the ball by not including some gracious shot of some of the beautiful landscapes Germany has to offer, and again, most of it takes place in one room. Why was this nominated and not Deakins' better work in Doubt? Not sure.
Overall, this movie is probably the least likely to win Best Picture, and thank God for that. It was just plain ol' boring.