It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

First of all, I feel I should mention that I have never read the Margaret Atwood novel this movie is based on. (And considering how boring most Canadian literature is, I never will.) I am sure, however, that the novel had more detail and explanation than this movie did. The movie starts off being a quest for a lost parent, but as soon as the protagonists make it to the woods, this quest is almost completely forgotten until the last ten minutes or so! The bulk of the movie has the protagonists canoing or wandering through the woods. There seems to be no point to all this, except maybe to pad out the running time. Maybe this stuff happened in the novel, though I'm sure the novel got into the heads of the characters and maybe therefore given the story a point. The movie has acceptable production values, but the general good look of the movie will not keep viewers awake.

This adaptation wasn't perfect, but covered most of the major plot action. The book is much more in depth, and I'm not sure that I liked having this vision in my mind, but the movie alone was enjoyable. This is one of my favorite novels, and I reread it often. The scene where Kate finds the answer she seeks is disturbing, but relieving. I don't get the same sort of "revelation" that I get from the novel, but had I not read the novel first, I would have enjoyed this movie more. Overall...not bad. This movie is worth checking into, especially if you are a fan of the book.