Beautiful, moving film.

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

When will this melancholy and overly-dramatic movie end, already? It goes on and on and on....about nearly nothing. What is the moral of this story? A lonely and penniless nanny takes advantage of a generous rich man, then disappears from the hotel room he has arranged for her in another town after they have passionate sex and she admits to being a virgin, placing a lie to her elaborately contrived French Lieutenant lover story.After 3 years of constant searching he finds her, and following the brief exchange of a few "poor me" words, they paddle off into a lake, presumably to live happily ever after. (In contrast to the contrived by-story of the same actors set in modern times). Meryl's excuse for disappearing for 3 years, "I was mad, bitter and angry and had to find myself."This is a "feminist" movie? Is cheating a man a feminist principle? Is "finding myself" a feminist objective?This movie should be called, "The French Lieutenants Whore," which is what Meryl Street actually calls herself in an early scene.I suspect the original title for the movie, and Faulkner's "masterpiece" on which it is based, was most likely called "The French Lieutenant's Whore," but I suspect some feminists talked Faulkner and the movie producers out of it.

This is one of those movies where you suspect that someone is trying to make a profound point, but you feel like a dummy because you just cannot figure out what it is. The best I could come up with is that love is just as nerve-wracking today as it was in the nineteenth century, only today men don't have to worry about being sued for breach of promise, and women don't have to worry about being ruined for life. So I guess we can call that progress. There is a ludicrous scene in which Irons finally gets to have sex with Streep (in the nineteenth century), and he spends more time taking off his clothes than he does having sex with her. So that is another difference: in the nineteenth century, people wore more clothes and had less foreplay.

I don't really think this is all that good a film. I mean, it's not exactly bad in any way, and it still left me interested n it throughout to continue it, but it was mostly out of respect to Streep and me wanting to finish her filmography. It does drag quite a bit throughout. But one reason to seek it out is Streep, who is marvelous playing the American and the American herself playing a character. She's definitely worth it, and I mean, it's Streep. That's why I kept with the film, because I do want to end up seeing al of her nominated performances, but if you're expecting a Sophie's Choice performance, you won't get it here at all. As it is I give it a C

I have watched this movie in its entirety once and attempted to rewatch it a few years later. I was quickly reminded of how boring and drawn out it is, and even though it's beautiful I needed something w/ more of a pace. If you are a Meryl Streep fan, she gives a knockout performance and the movie is worth watching for her alone. However this movie flows like The Bridges of Madison County, another amazing performance in a film that I will never rewatch b/c it is so slow, but she embodies those characters well. The cinematography, lighting, shots, locations are outstanding, yet make the story move slowly and beautifully, yet the story is hard to follow and makes u so bored that it is hard to separate story lines. All in all, a beautiful film if you do not have digital cable, youtube, myspace, facebook, or an iphone, b/c those will make u distracted and lose focus. This movie would not be enjoyable to anyone ADD, ADHD, w/ a short attention span, who did not go to an Ivey League school, or someone who takes a lot of breaks. If you are in a hospital bed or retired you might enjoy this slow-moving long journey.