Winter's Tale

I have said quite often that movies give us a chance to escape into another time, place, looking into different person's lives as we get swept into a fantastical world. This clearly is the epitome of why movies were invented, so we could forget our problems and issues even though it may be for a limited two-hour time slot, which is why films like "Winter's Tale" exist.

New York City is subsumed in arctic winds, dark nights, and white lights. Its life unfolds, for it is an extraordinary hive of the imagination, the greatest house ever built, and nothing exists that can check its vitality. One evening in winter, Peter Lake (Colin Farrell), orphan and master-mechanic, attempts to rob a fortress-like mansion on the Upper West Side. Though he thinks the house is empty, the daughter of the house owned by Isaac Penn (William Hurt), her father, is actually home. Thus begins the love between Peter, a middle- aged Irish burglar, and Beverly Penn (Jessica Brown Findlay), a young woman who is dying. What makes their connection difficult is the fact that Peter's ex-employer whom Peter stole for, Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe) is after him for his belief that Peter has done him wrong. All that Pearly knows is that a red-headed woman is a form of protection for Peter, so not only must Pearly find Peter, but this woman as well.

Others to round out the cast are Jennifer Connelly as Virginia Gamely, Mckayla Twiggs as Young Willa, Beverly's much younger sister, Maurice Jones as Cecil, Kevin Corrigan as Romeo Tan, Will Smith as Judge, Ripley Sobo as Abby, Virginia's daughter, Graham Greene as Humpstone John, Kevin Durand as Cesar Tan, Eva Marie Saint as Older Adult Willa, Tom Morrissey as Butler, Jon Patrick Walker as Optometrist, and David O'Brien Hart as Penn House Butler.

For this to be this filmmaker's first feature film in the director's chair, Akiva Goldsman did an outstanding job. The way he was able to get his actors to emit the different emotions that were required was spot on and something one would see from a seasoned director. It was also written by Goldsman ("The Client" '94, "Silent Fall" '94, "Batman Forever" '95, "A Time to Kill" '96, "Batman & Robin" '97, "Lost in Space" '98, "Practical Magic" '98, "A Beautiful Mind" '01, "I, Robot" '04, "Cinderella Man" '05, "The Da Vinci Code" '06, "I Am Legend" '07, "Angels & Demons" '09) based on the novel by Mark Helprin. This script could have been easily written in a convoluted way considering it goes from 1895 to 2014 to 1916 to 2014 and back again, but Goldsman is such a consummate writer, hence the resume, that he pulled it off. There were a couple of slow places, but certainly not enough to detract from this very interesting premise. Another superbly done aspect of this film was from the cinematographer, Caleb Deschanel, asc ("The Black Stallion" '79, "Being There" '79, "The Right Stuff" '83, "The Natural" '84, "It Could Happen to You" '94, "Hope Floats" '98, "Anna and the King" '99, "The Patriot" 2000, "The Passion of the Christ" '04, "National Treasure" '04, "The Spiderwick Chronicles" '08, "Killer Joe" '11, "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" '12, "Jack Reacher" '12). Deschanel has this innate ability to bring a certain crispness and clarity to his work which is why he is probably one of my favorite cinematographers.

If you are sentimental at all, this is the film for you, but even if you're not, the interesting story whereas the different time periods have specific connections along with the great visuals will keep you riveted to that theater seat intrigued at what is unfolding before your very eyes.

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                      Rated: PG-13                          118mins.