andrew-119-97990

I was duped. I have just finished watching this film, or more correctly watching it at normal speed for about forty minutes and then, in desperation, fast forwarding to the end – even in fast-forward the film managed to plod.

I say duped, because having read some of the reviews here, I thought - despite early misgivings - it must get better.

It didn't.

Now being a "Brit", I suppose I should be supporting our own home-grown directing "talent", but loyalty can be stretched too far, and this didn't just stretch it, but snap it clean in two.

At this point I will give a brief outline of the story. It's set in the near future; cloning; empathy virus; love affair between Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton - further details are irrelevant. I don't think I've given away any spoilers – hard to imagine how anyone could with this complete time waster.

The director, must have spent his apprenticeship in Europe, so determined, it seemed, was he to mimic those "oh so deep", slow moving continental movies that intellectual snobs profess to love, but which bore the majority of us simple folk.

I presume they spent much of their budget in seducing Tim Robbins to star – probably with an eye to capturing that all important American audience – yes we may look down on our American cousins, but we still need their money, technology etc.

I cannot, with a clear conscious, recommend this film to anyone. If you do have a spare ninety minutes to fill, please use it more constructively. Have you any wet paint that needs watching?

There is a stylistic feel to this film, a clever use of dark and light tones and an impressive use of camera angles and close ups which does give more than a nod towards Hitchcock, though perhaps at times it is a little overdone. The story itself is a good one, with a number of clever twists and turns, and the two leads give good solid performances.

I did enjoy this film; the sort I felt could bear more than one watching. Unfortunately, the ending is too obviously hurried in its attempt to tie up all the loose ends, and this, for me, is what lets it down.

I have to admit that for the first five minutes or so of watching this film, I had low expectations - my only reason for persevering being the chance to see the lovely Paulette Goddard. It is loosely based - and I mean loosely - on a period in the life of Lucretia Borgia. A tale of love, betrayal and murder, sprinkled with moments of humour that manages to avoid spoiling the story's overall tone.

Paulette Goddard looks her most alluring self, and she the other leads all perform well. Whilst mostly serious, and at times very moving, the story also has moments of light humour. John Lund in particular handles this dual role very ably. Lund is, to my mind, much underrated. His comic timing is good, delivered in a gentle manner, and perhaps it is this that can sometimes give the impression that he is an acting lightweight.

Macdonald Carey plays Lucretia Borgia's devious brother yet, despite this, he is not entirely unlikeable - as he explains to his sister "We live in times when acts of cruelty are sometimes necessary to survive." It is Raymond Burr who, not for the first time, plays the less sympathetic villain here.

There are, as mentioned early, several moments of comedy, and one which stands out for me features a rather portly lute player, who has been paid by Lund to hide in the garden and sing in his place the same love song nightly to Goddard. Finally deciding to succumb to Lund's romantic gesture, she ventures into the garden, only to discover it is not Lund's dulcet tones that have being regaling her - Goddard's fury and the fearful pleading of this hapless singer are wonderful to behold.