It would appear that somewhere along the line i've completely missed the point. Fernando Meirelles' 2005 drama based on the novel by John Le Carre was met with rave reviews upon its release, largely thanks to the powerful performance of lead actor Ralph (or is it Raif these days?) Fiennes.
The scene was set. With the children asleep unusually early the rare novelty of being able to watch a film without a bottle or a tantrum being thrown awaited.
The moment was wasted. What followed was two hours of crushingly dull fare which could have rivalled a night on the town with a Time Team enthusiast for excitement, so much so that the temptation to pull the plug and do the dishes instead became overpowering by the half hour mark.
But as is always the case with slow starting films, there's always the hope that it will pick up pace, giving the viewer a smug sense of justification for sticking with it and therefore letting it be known to anyone who'll listen that it's 'alright but it takes a while to get going.'
There wasn't even a mumur of movement, never mind it actually getting going.
You know a film's on the road to nowhere when you spend more time watching the timer on the DVD player rather than what's happening on screen.
To be fair, the performances of Fiennes and his lovely co-star Rachel Weisz are admirable, while the plot line of Justin Quayle (Fiennes) attempting to track down his wife Tessa's (Weisz) murderer in Africa at the hands of a large pharmaceutical company sounds promising.
It was a false promise though as the film continued to lumber along at an alarmingly deathly rate.
Maybe i'd need to watch it again to appreciate its qualities properly or maybe I was right all along and that it really is a complete and utter borefest.
Now then, anyone out there into Time Team?
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