Anna Karenina

The strengths of this movie lie in the visuals and the performances. Much of this film is a feast for the eyes; only rarely are these scenes played plainly and on a small scale. Add to that some very good actors performing at the top of their games--Jude Law in particular is a marvel of conveying emotion through a veil of restraint--and you get movie that moves well and holds the attention all the way through. One negative critique: I’m not sure this presentation really needed the extra bells and whistles (scenes, especially transitions, are often portrayed as stage pieces); sometimes a director needs to know when to get out of the way and let his story do the storytelling.