Joe Wilson – Google

I was fortunate enough to portray Kittel, the leader of the Nazi occupation, in a stage production at Longwood College (now University) in Virginia years ago. It remains one of the most powerful theatrical experiences in a forty year career. There is music, love, laughter, tears, loss and redemption. How it reads as literature is not for me to judge - as drama on stage, it can be heart-stopping.

I'm not buying the groundswell of love for this film. Beautiful cinematography, accomplished acting, gorgeous set pieces, but ultimately it all seemed hollow and predictable to me. The most unforgivable lapse was the failure to land the ending. It couldn't have been telegraphed more clearly if Samuel Morse himself had written and directed. Maybe it was intentional. It didn't work for me. The protagonist was not someone I cared about, so his destined end didn't affect me in the least. Blanchett was a cardboard femme fatale. The carny folk were all stereotypes. It worked as a period piece, but I was expecting better.