'Winter's Tale' has impressive period detail but overly mushy romance
The ad line for 鈥淲inter鈥檚 Tale鈥� reads 鈥淭his is not a true story, it鈥檚 a love story.鈥� The movie itself is every bit as gaga as that line. Adapted by writer-director Akiva Goldsman from the sprawling Mark Helprin magical-realist bestseller, it鈥檚 about a master thief, Peter Lake (Colin Farrell), who is swept away by Beverly Penn (Jessica Brown Findlay, from 鈥�Downton Abbey鈥�), a consumptive, red-haired beauty. Their love, or the ache of its absence, takes place in three different years: 1895, 1916, and 2014. The period detail is impressive; the romanticism is gooey.
Peter鈥檚 nemesis is his mentor in crime, the (literally) demonic Pearly Somes, played by Russell Crowe in a gutteral mode that threatened at any moment to turn operatic. (Fortunately, it doesn鈥檛. I鈥檓 still recovering from his warbling in 鈥�Les Mis茅rables.鈥�) Goldsman, directing his first feature, is trying to achieve a fairy-tale radiance, not an easy achievement even for a seasoned pro. Most of the time the magic on view is distinctly unmagical 鈥� too many twinkling stars.
He鈥檚 pretty good with actors, though, and he鈥檚 stocked his cast with additional worthies, including Eva Marie Saint, William Hurt, Jennifer Connelly, and, in an unbilled cameo, Will Smith as no less than Lucifer. If only there was less mush and more meat in this stew. Grade: C+ (Rated PG-13 for violence and some sensuality.)
