It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Let me start by saying that "Love In The Time of Cholera" is one of the finest pieces of literature I've ever had the honour of reading. The complexity of the characters in the context of the epic love story, and, of course, García Márquez' uniquely masterful, creative, nuanced, and haunting storytelling are as astoundingly difficult to get out of your head as they are to even begin thinking about portraying on film. So, when I set out to watch this, I expected the details and the rich colour of the book to be present only to a certain extent, but I didn't expect this. The characters were gone, too.Florentino, the boy who is all but destroyed by an acutely-debilitating, chronically-present, obsessive, dangerous, manic and unconditional love for Fermina, was very, very different in the film. He is extremely shallow instead of profoundly observant, borderline psychotic instead of passionate, and disgustingly sleazy instead of empty and sadly seductive. I originally saw his promiscuity as a coping mechanism-turned-addiction, by which the author had free leeway to explore sexual desire and physical love in its entire spectrum, from the desperate, to the comical, to the terrifying, to the paraphilic (and, yes, that's a term I just coined because I wanted to vomit when reading about Florentino and his 14-year-old ward-- which, I suspect, was the intended effect). It's very important to note, too, that in the novel Gabo takes on this subject very carefully and skilfully, with a sharp contrast in tone, symbolism and pacing that sets it worlds apart from the romantic kind of love that Florentino never feels for anyone but Fermina. In the film, however, all of the details were missing, and the previous analysis turns to dust -- why he's promiscuous, with whom and why. I daresay we never even understand the reason why he loves Fermina the way he does in the first place (which takes reading the entire book). In my opinion, this is due to poor characterisation of both on screen.Fermina is a hard character to grasp, a tough nut to crack in the book, and I suspect that's her appeal. Florentino never fully understands her -- why she's so cold AND passionate, why she's so quiet AND so emotionally open at the same time. In the film, though, she's easy: a shallow woman who plays hard to get. Without her reactions for example, to her aunt's dismissal by her father, to the long trip to her cousin's, to Europe and everything it holds, and, finally, to being married to a man she loves but not in the way that makes her happy, the audience struggles to understand why she even deserves the title of Crowned Goddess. She's boring, at best.Juvenal Urbino, the doctor who marries Fermina, much to Florentino's torture, doesn't fare much better in this adaptation. There's barely anything to him but his money and status. In the book, he's a very intelligent man who truly cares about his town and its health and culture, a highly organised snob and a decent husband. We just get the "decent husband" part with this film. He basically makes a deal with Lorenzo Daza and marries his daughter. It's not made clear that he loves her, whereas in the book, his affair being the only exception, the reader never doubts the kind of easy, comfortable, warm kind of love they have for each other till his dying day. Marital love, then, is not to be seen.Finally, Lorenzo wasn't much of a brutish criminal in this, just an arsehole father, and characters like Euclides were completely missing.Much is to be said FOR this film, though. It follows the story lines well, albeit with important missing bits. The music is good. The setting (whilst not correct in the sense that the story is set in a typical Colombian coastal tiny town and NOT a big city like Cartagena), is gorgeous. The acting was far from exceptional, but passable. I really liked the ending, but was annoyed by the fact that it was Fermina and not the Captain asking how long they were going to be on the boat.This adaptation is faithful, and I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 3, because it's really unfair to expect filmmakers to translate phrases like "cataclysm of love" and indeed stories as complex as this into the screen. Gabo was THE master of Magical Realism and we'll be hard-pressed to find a film that does his works justice. He, of course, is very much missed.

that is word. a definition who has in its sound the air of art to conserve essence of novel. the admirable performance. the story more than an adaptation of Garcia Marquez work and metamorphose in a life fact pieces. Giovanna Mezzogiorno does a memorable character. nuances, waters of gestures, black/white crumbs of feelings, the veil of fairy tale, all are present in this fresco grace of her.Javier Bardem... he is himself. master of details, more than authentic, jeweler of a touching, vulnerable character. and master of story. sure, not all is perfect. but the soul of novel is everywhere. powerful, seductive, touching. this fact is essential. because, out of adaptation status, the film remains special.

First I will start by saying I love the writings of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I have read his books in both English and Spanish. They are like 3 hundred pages of poetry and visual imagery…like a surreal writer. The story was tweaked a bit for the screen and some of the characters were modified…but the core of the story remained true.I will quickly say that if you liked movies such as A River Runs Through It, The House Of The Spirits, Frida or Like Water For Chocholate, then I think you will enjoy this movie. I am a little sad how few people had the patience or understanding to enjoy this movie, a story of a love from a distance that lasts a lifetime.I do not want to give much of the story away There were so many actors giving their best in this movie that it was a absolute joy. Javier Bardem (who is awesome) and Unax Ugalde did a brilliant job of bringing Florentino to life. Giovanna Mezzogiorno did a great job with a complex emotional character. But even secondary parts like Benjamin Bratt (Dr Juvenal Urbino), John Leguizamo (Fermina's father), Marcela Mar (America Vicuna) and Hector Elizondo (Don Leo) and not to mention many beautiful actresses in minor roles. The cinematography by Affonso Beato was outstanding, capturing human drama as well as capturing sets and surroundings with life. The Art and department and Visual effects departments were absolutely incredible they captured the color, complexity and depth of Marquez's book. Mike Newell did a great job directing and the production was excellent.Watch this with someone you love…or want to love. I bought the movie and read the book again... "They were together in silence like an old married couple wary of life, beyond the pitfalls of passion, beyond the brutal mockery of hope and the phantoms of disillusion: beyond love. For they had lived together long enough to know that love was always love, anytime and anyplace, but it was more solid the closer it came to death."

Before writing this commentary, I went through most of the reviews- skimmed and scanned those which did not meet my expectations. Here is what I think of this film: To be honest, the movie in most parts covers the entire book bearing in mind that the three and half hundred page book has been written by one of the world greatest fiction maestros. Who would have ever thought that the makers of this movie will bring that Belgian photographer “taking Fermina Daza and her cousin’s pictures” on screen or watching the poetry function scene- the same amount of time- attended by Fermina, Florentina and Juvenal where at one point the amateur from China wins. And so on and so forth… The music is spellbinding as if you are in a beautiful spring night dream. The songs are by Shakira and obviously are timeless. Cinematography is brilliant- as if being in a painting exhibition.If some movie goers think there are minor facial or make up flaws, which I personally don’t think there are, it’s because the movie is filmed in a steamy and humid portal city of Columbia. It’s Caribbean climate! Make up artists had to apply it again and again every minute. Speaking of setting, it took director years to convince the author to give him the right to make this movie. At first they had Brazil as the set in mind but later they decided to change the location to Columbia.Giovanna Mezzogiorno playing Fermina Daza for me is the highlight of the movie who performs her role very well. The part when Florentina Ariza meets Fermina Daza after almost quarter of a century professing his fidelity and everlasting love; in return tormented Fermina replies “Florentino Ariza, get out of here! And don’t show your face again for the years of life that are left to you.” I thought that was outstanding.Language critics must adhere that the readers and makers of the movie are English speakers; it’s as simple as that. Committee decision!Those who have read the novel will find the movie more enjoyable for it has achieved every element of Marquez’s book from sex and taboos to metaphors and poetry. Those who haven’t, I implore them to read the book first, forget being dyspeptic and watch it with uncluttered mind.8.5/10