Review: The Reader

The Reader (2009)
starring: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross,
Bruno Ganz
dir. Stephen Daldry

This seems like an odd statement to make, but rarely do I walk away with the idea the feeling that a slow film felt rushed. It's as if the filmmakers knew how they wanted the movie to work and instead of finessing and massaging until the storyline found the proper times to shift gears, it just grinds the clutch and shifts to fit within a predetermined structure. This is not saying that The Reader is a bad movie. Quite the contrary. I was pleasantly surprised at the interest I took in the characters and the emotional dilemmas facing them. This surprise didn't kick in until close to the halfway point of the film and left near the final scenes, but it was still a surprise.

The first third is a very standard awkward love story as a young Michael Berg (Kross) becomes infatuated, then physically involved with, an older woman (Winslet) who likes being read to. She is illiterate and even though it isn't stated until later in the film, the visual cues smash you over the head like a piano crashing down on the Coyote in a Road Runner cartoon. The affair is cut short, which is a shame since I was quite enjoying watching Winslet walking around naked.

The film then shifts to Berg in law school after the war where he gets to go along with classmates to witness the trial of a few SS guards accused of murder. Guess who is one of the accused guards? Yep, our lovely Ms. Winslet. This is where the film gets really interesting for a few minutes. Questions about responsibility are brought up and asked by Michael's law professor played by Bruno Ganz. When it comes to being an employee of the nazis, what is your role and what are you responsible for in a government that continually commits atrocity after atrocity? This could have been the entire film itself and would make a really interesting and involving watch, but this isn't a movie about that, so it's brushed quickly and quietly under the love story carpet. Kate is screwed over by her fellow SS gals and sentenced to life in prison.

We then shift into a grownup Michael, well played by Fiennes, dealing with his emotions for a woman who he feels betrayed by in several ways and has never truly gotten over. This is steamrolled through with a montage, a promise, a death and a confession. Role closing credits with a sad score. Again, I'm trouncing on it a bit, but it felt like a movie that could have been really special and ended up being typical Oscar fodder.

Winslet has been nominated for a best actress Oscar and she may have nailed this one. Her character is complex and honestly naive. It's fascinating to watch her wrestle with her feelings and the results of her actions. It's great to watch her work. No matter how undesirable the character may be, she finds the humanity and never lays it on too thick.

In the end though, it's a choppy film filled with some very strong visuals and excellent performances. The ideas and all of the ingredients to make a fully satisfying meal are there , it just feels like it wasn't mixed properly and needed a little more care and attention before being served.

6.75 out of 10