Raymond Nicholas

My initial thoughts on the movie: Not a very interesting topic, in which its relevance to the overall world seems fairly exaggerated (“tomorrow you will be the most famous man in the world “). I was attracted by the quality of the cast, but was disappointed with many of the main characters, especially Ralph Fiennes, who seemed to sleepwalk pensively through his part. I found the various subplots confusing, and it was hard to differentiate the different candidates, though this could be just me, and my inability to take in all of the minor storylines! I thought that the whole film was badly lit and added to the confusion of differentiating between the various Cardinals. All told, a very disappointing watch. I thought that Isabella Rossellini was terrific, and the twist at the end was well executed. Overall, some saving graces, but not one to recommend…

This is without doubt, one of the silliest movies that I have seen, and, sadly, it was written and directed by one of my early heroes. The whole feel of the movie was that it was helmed by an American, (a weakness they seem to have as a nation) seduced by the whole upper classes in England “thing” specially in and around London. Thankfully, he redeemed himself some years later with the far more interesting Vicky Cristina Barcelona. The idea of old aristocratic money running a massive dynamic empire, which finances an extraordinary lifestyle in the 21st century is slightly more than a bit of a stretch, to say nothing of the nightly visits to operas. The settings are wonderfully lavish, and London is shown at its best. As for the acting: Brian Cox is sleepwalking, Scarlett Johansson is as wooden as ever, and Emily Mortimer displays the ineptness that she has shown throughout her career. In fairness, Jonathan Reese Myers, was very good with his part. The ending was a bit of a hoot too! All told, a big miss …

I watched this series not having read the book, although I thought the “bonfire of the vanities” was fairly trite. The early meeting setting the scene for the confrontation struck me as being fairly fanciful. The chairman of the meeting, as which had far too many Bank staff present, was ludicrously over the top in his personal venom against the protagonist, whom he doesn’t appear to have met before. He was also too old for the role. People of his age are either CEO or retired. The relationship between him and his “snitch” again lacked credibility. Even more unbelievable what the relationship between Croker and Snodgrass. The guy was not his personal assistant, he was his relationship manager. Jeff Daniels was really the only credible Character in his portrayal of Croker. In fairness, the minor plots, particularly the racial issue, was handled moderately well, but in a very PC way. All told, a travesty of television… I am amending this review 24 hours later, as I am, retrospectively, assuming that it was a cartoonish over-the-top show, deliberately exaggerating all the various characters. it still failed – but I am therefore upping its rating to a two star.