A waste of 90 minutes of my life

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The premise sounded interesting. It didn't quite live up to it."Was it interesting?" While the story has been done, this instance was well written.2 out of 3."Was it memorable?" The locations were good. The performances were mostly believable. The big problem here is how small the movie feels. There are really only 4 characters, and a handful of settings.1.5 out of 3."Was it entertaining?" I found the pacing to be written in chapters and didn't flow together. Everything was too methodical. The symbolism seemed a tad pretentious.1 out of 3.Starting with 1 (because I was ordered to), 1 + 2 + 1.5 + 1 = 5.5 This movie is such a middle of the road 5, with everything right perfectly equaling everything wrong.

Just when one thinks this is just another love story, this movie actually is much more than that. It's about dealing with your past in the present. It's also about fighting your (inner and outer) demons. Very nicely portrayed. Though the resolution might not feel right to some, this movie is consistent in what it is doing.The performances are really great and the flashbacks flesh out what and why the characters are in their current state. There is still a lot of in between the lines you can read and some things might feel either too much or too little (is it rough edges or soft edges?), but that will depend on your personal view of certain things. As it is, it portrays a battle (literally and metaphorically speaking), that is tough to fight with ...

I usually don't "review" films which have already been reviewed more than 100 times, but I will this time because I was where part of this movie was filmed. The part of the film where they are building the railroad in the jungle was filmed in the area known as Hellfire Pass, northwest of the Bridge On The River Kwai, and adjacent to the River Kwai (which is actually pronounced like quack without the k). Unlike the film :The Bridge On The River Kwai", which was actually filmed in Ceylon and looked almost nothing like the actual bridge and river, this film is very accurately depicted. I could almost relive my hiking in that area quite a few years ago. This gives a far more realistic representation of how the western POWs were treated by the Japanese (at least based on the readings I have done).I give this film a lot of credit for the way in which they tell the story. It begins with a rather disheveled man on a British train who meets a beautiful British woman and they eventually get married. Then she learns why at times he is so distant or goes into his psychological MELTDOWNS -- what happened building the Death Railway from Bangkok to Burma.Fortunately, they don't attempt to make Colin Firth and the other actors look young and old, depending on what part of the story is being told. Colin Firth plays the mature main character (and brilliantly), and Jeremy Irvine plays the young main character (equally as brilliantly). Nicole Kidman plays the bewildered wife, and is excellent. Stellan Skarsgård, suddenly looking considerably older, plays a war time colleague who helps tell the story. Hiroyuki Sanada plays the old Japanese man who once tortured Firth, while Tanroh Ishida plays the war time torturer.I can only find one thing to criticize here and that is failing to show the true suffering that took place by the Western POWs as they were digging out of the rock Hellfire Pass. Many simply dropped over dead...little more than skeletons when they died. In other words, they didn't show half the horror that existed there (and if you doubt me, Google photographs of "death railway" and "hellfire pass").On the other hand, the all important scene between the old Firth and the old Japanese torturer is quite remarkable. Maybe it shows that some Japanese might have shown some remorse over what they did.For those who like historical films, this is a stunning piece of work. My father fought in the European theater, including with the troops who first went into Germany and found all the atrocities. He would never speak of that, and I only learned a bit about what he experienced after he died and I was going through his personal belongings. And this fact -- the not willing to talk about it -- is actually covered in the film. Few films give us any idea of how some some suffered in World War II. This film does.P.S. -- at the end of the film you get to see the real Bridge On The River Kwai and the real Hellfire Pass.

I seem to watch quite a few biopics these days and the railway man is another and I liked this film. The premise of this film sees a man who has PTSD over torturous events that happened to him. He now has a chance to get redemption for those events when he finds out the man responsible is still alive. Colin firth is fantastic in this film. I've never seen him deliver such a damaged performance that you really feel. It was a big power performance that should have got more recognition. I thought the younger actor in the flashbacks did a decent job in encapsulating firths younger self. Nicole Kidman is a good actress and she was really good as firths wife in this film. She bought her character and their relationship because of her powerful performance. Stellan skarsgard is really good in his role in the film as firths colleague and he added allot to the film. The Japanese soldier was really good in this film too and even though you hated his character you felt an element of sympathy for his character. The present day story was really interesting seeing this truly damaged character trying to get his redemption. However, I felt the flashback scenes didn't add enough to the narrative to the film. The script had some decent dramatic dialogue because this is a powerful film but if definitely could have used more humour. The style was alright with a fantastic score and a unique backdrop. However, the pacing is off in this film, the first hour is just too slow and it hurts the film overall. Overall this is a good film that is worth a watch.