Really Surprised!

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

How anyone can sit through this movie is a mystery to me. Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize winning novel has been adapted into an Oscar nominated film and I'm baffled on both counts. There is absolutely no chemistry or longing at all anywhere in this story. The screenwriter and director both fail in wrenching from this flat tale any kind of riveting or aching longing or heart. So dull is this tale that the characters don't express how they feel, rather some monotonous voice over must explain it to you. Winona Ryder alone stands out as a character; the only one who pines. She alone sees the deceit in the loved ones around her, and though it breaks her heart, she allows it, knowing that she cannot stop them without destroying the lives of everyone she cares for.Pass, pass, pass on this film. It it so beguilingly boring. 4/10

New York doyen Martin Scorsese directs another movie set in the city that never sleeps. However, "The Age of Innocence" is not about streets that are mean, bulls who rage, or fellas who are good. It focuses on the hypocrisy of 1870s high society. Daniel Day-Lewis's respected lawyer is engaged to Winona Ryder's heiress, but then falls for her cousin (Michelle Pfeiffer).The idea behind the story is that the main character is as trapped by his surroundings as is Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver". There's not an iota of bloodshed in this adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel, but the emotional violence that the characters here perpetrate on each other is analogous to the physical violence in Scorsese's most famous movies. The innocence of the title is as much of a facade as is the lifestyle in "The Graduate".Nonetheless, I couldn't watch the movie without throwing out a few "MST3K"-style comments. For one thing, I kept thinking to myself "This is directed by the man who gave us 'The Wolf of Wall Street'." Also, any look at high society tempts me to launch some barbs. I just find it hard to take such a focus seriously. To crown everything, Daniel Day-Lewis's other 1993 movie was "In the Name of the Father", which couldn't have been more different from "The Age of Innocence".In the end, I recommend the movie. To my knowledge, Martin Scorsese has never made a bad movie. The rest of the cast includes Geraldine Chaplin, Michael Gough, Mary Beth Hurt, Norman Lloyd, Miriam Margolyes, Jonathan Pryce and Joanne Woodward.

Certainly a Change of Pace for Director Martin Scorsese, this is an Effort that is not Completely Successful. Overwhelming in its Depiction of Surface, the Sets, Costumes and Incredible Attention to Detail, the Film's Characters have the Difficult Task of Creating Emotional Attachment when all those Feelings are Suppressed even when it is Convenient to do Otherwise.The Best Scenes are when Newton Archer (Daniel Day-Lewis slightly miscast) Defends Ellen (Michelle Pfeiffer completely miscast). It is here that the Smoldering Fire Sparks a Display of Compassion and Passion where the Movie comes Alive. Also, the Granny Scenes Occasionally Liven Up the Deadly Boring Proceedings because there a Glimpse of Humanity is shown where there Simply is none Existent Elsewhere.These People do Exist in a Completely Non-Expressive Cover of Dress and Dining of the most Elegant and it is these Artificial Environs that are the Real Stars in this Exquisite Exercise in Elegance. Gorgeous to Look at, it is the Characters and the Screenplay that make this a Vacant Victorian Story that is not so Appealing. The Film has the Inenviable Task of making Watchable a Virtually Uninteresting, at least on the Surface, Parade of People that Deserve Little Attention.So the Point is Made and it is not Very Dramatic because there is just no There There and Scorsese takes Another Point of View. That of the Camera.

The Age of Innocence"You gave me my first glimpse of a real life. Then you asked me to go on with a false one"- Newland Archer Newland Archer (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a well-respected lawyer who begins to fall for Ellen Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer) whilst he is engaged to her cousin Mary Welland (Winona Ryder). There is much more depth to the film than just an internal love story as it expresses the lives of the upper class in New York. The exclusivity and distinction of the elite is beautifully shown in this film of passion and loss as the masquerade of the period politics slowly fall apart in the eyes of Newland Archer.The film Age of Innocence takes us into a new realm of skill shown by Martin Scorsese with this brilliant period piece set on the novel by Edith Wharton written in 1920. Scorsese's repertoire has largely held the grit of films such as Taxi Driver, Mean Streets and Goodfellas, but with Age of Innocence there is a more delicate touch to the way the plot unfolds. The novel was introduced to Scorsese by Jay Cocks, who then co wrote the script with him in is his first attempt at converting English literary into a film. What makes this a magnificent piece is Scorsese's understanding of creating an atmosphere that constantly intrigues despite the fact little may seemingly be going on. It is the lighting of the sets that really captures the period of the film, as the candles and fires flicker on the screen. The whole mood of the film stirs within the use of the shadows Scorsese spreads over those whose unorthodox nature could not fit into the mold of the strict high family politics. The beautiful set designs and Academy Award winning costumes brings real sincerity to the exclusion of the high society. The three central performances from Daniel-Day Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder hold the whole social orchestration of the time perfectly. Winona Ryder puts in the performance of her career portraying a delicate and indifferent fabrication to the political tide around her that she rose to with covert ease. A long period of time is covered in the film as we follow their lives and it is the interaction between the central three that stops the film stable as they create the subtle changes with age.The run time is fairly long, standing at two hours twenty minutes, with a long period of the characters lives being covered. There are often jumps of years at a time, which could make for a very messy narrative, however, Joanne Woodward pieces, this together with some elegant narration. It is perfectly condensed into longer sequences and will often include traits of the time during lingering camera work on specifics of the time.It is a film of utter splendour, as we watch the elite play their own little game of beauty, which will no doubt put many off. It is worth seeing to witness a masterful paintbrush by Martin Scorsese who shows a new range of skills that continues to put him in the running as one of the greatest directors of all time.