jeanjeannie38

I watched this, potentially brilliant, mini serial for each of its four days. Each day I really looked forward to the next episode. However, having now watched the whole series, I have reached the conclusion that the drama should have continued for five days instead of four. The fourth episode could very easily have concluded with a cliffhanger concerning the main character. This would have enabled the drama to end in a much more satisfying way. Instead, after watching four days of a truly gripping thriller, the ending was very disappointing. I don't think merely leaving your audience with a good idea of the probably outcome of a drama is a patch on concluding with a fully rounded ending. Instead of the series concluding in a way that left me pleased I have invested my time and energy in it, I was left feeling it had been cut short because the writer (or director) had simply run out of steam. On the plus side the acting, especially of those playing the two leading characters, was first class.

What a disappointment! Far too much energy has been spent on creating special effects at the expense of the characters. The actors did a fine job with what they were given. It is a crying shame they were not given a script which would allow them to make better use of their obvious talents. I read Alice Sebold's novel and although I realise that a film has to cover a large amount of ground in a short amount of time, the ground covered was superficial. I felt like I'd been invited to a banquet but received stale bread and soup! Jackson should have stuck to what he's good at and left deeper subjects to those who can handle them adequately. I have avoided spoilers since everyone should have a chance to make up their own minds.

I recently got this film out on video, and was surprised (after hearing much negative talk about it) to find myself enjoying it. It had the usual weird and wonderful hallmarks of a Kubrick film.

I enjoyed the minimalist style music, which accompanied the action, along with the more scene specific stuff (don't want to say more for fear of spoiling).

In my view the film was about long term relationships: how jealousy can create insecurities; which can lead people to play dangerous games in order to redress the balance.

Unfortunately, after a good start and a good build up of tension, this film simply stopped rather than ended. What a shame!

The way in which the finishing scenes lacked some special ingredient makes me question whether Kubrick was still around in the final moments of the film's production.

The film could have done with being several minutes longer, so that the points it made could have been delivered more slowly allowing the tension to be ease off less abruptly.