Among Giants - Zwischen Himmel und Erde

I did not know of the existence of this film until i saw it on a video preview. I rushed right out to hunt it down as Pete Postlethwaite and Rachel Griffiths are absolutely brilliant actors. I think it is fantastic that character actor Pete Postlethwaite, finally gets to play a romantic lead. There has always been something compelling and charismatic about him. Rachel Griffiths is perfect also. Forget your air-brushed, hollywood ideas of romance and sex, this is real, and sexy and uplifting at the same time.

This movie is not nearly as bad as some other reviewers would have you believe. While it is no Hollywood big budget blockbuster it is a nice, sensitive movie about three people and their brief involvement. The scenery is breathtaking and the towers make a great backdrop. As far as being embarrassed by Postlethwaite's nudity I can only say I hope I look that good at 53. This is not a movie about a perfect man and a perfect woman under palm trees in a perfect world, It is about life in a dreary town leading a dreary existence. The crying man? He was living his dreary life, into a bookie for more than he had, knowing he was not getting out. I might cry as well.

The movie was a bit slow at times but give it a chance.

I really don't understand why this film has received such generally negative reaction. I agree that it does bog down in a couple of places, and maybe some of the charactors could have been developed in a litte more detail, but Postelwaite and Griffiths are thoroughly engrossing.

Also, the film is visually very interesting. Someone has a real eye for shot construction.

After looking at the user ratings, I was expecting to be disappointed. I wasn't.

This film is truly awful. Its intention is to be in the vein of Raining Stones or Secrets and Lies or Brassed Off. It only skips the surface, never digging into the lives of the characters. The guy who cries in the campfire scene must have a problem, but what is it? Can you imagine Rachel Griffiths falling in love with Pete Postlethwaite? Excerpt: "Somewhere under those clothes there's a woman... Get 'em off." That _ridiculous_ scene in the silo or whatever it is, the two of them nude in the falling water? Postlethwaite looks like the village idiot.

Heaven knows why he got mixed up in this film. Don't you make the same mistake.

This is the type of movie that you don't want to trash, but you have to anyway. There is too much illogical behavior, too many dramatics, and not enough things to recommend. There was a beautiful scene in a watertower and some of the aerial shots are great, but unless you are a Pete Postlethwaite completist, I'd stay away.