Nicolas Cage and Penélope Cruz are ill-matched, and the range of heavy accents is distracting.
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09/19/08
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Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001)
29 %
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 115
Fresh: 33
Rotten:82
Average Rating: 4.4/10
Consensus: The cinematography is gorgeous, but the movie plays it fast and loose with history and the novel it was adapted from. Mostly, the movie fails because the romance between the leads strains credulity and the story is largely uninvolving.
Runtime: 2 hrs 9 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Academy Award (R) winner Nicolas Cage (City of Angels) and Penelope Cruz (All About My Mother) star in Captain Corelli's Mandolin, an epic tale about the enduring hope of love and the devastating brutality of war, set amid the Italian... [More]
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Penélope Cruz, Christian Bale, John Hurt
Director: John Madden
Reviews for Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Top Critic
Top Critic
Gorgeous to look at and well-played, it's definitely watchable, yet strangely uninvolving.
10/30/02
Obviously, the novel's sprawling, multi-strand structure has been streamlined here, but Madden and screenwriter Slovo have included so much subtext that it's still a remarkably complex film.
12/10/01
Fans will argue it's not as good as the book, but John Madden has delivered a pretty mooch around rustic, tranquil Cephallonia.
08/14/01
Top Critic
Top Critic I would love to know what kind of emotions were running through those who took part in the Cephalonia romances, and this movie doesn't help me much.
07/23/01
Top Critic Strikes too many false notes on the dramatic side to add up to a satisfying emotional experience.
08/07/08
Top CriticClick to read the article
02/25/04
A romance as spectacular as this novel is, it still has a difficult job making the leap to the screen.
05/20/03
...Touching and at the same time brutal, brimming with the emotional conflict that surges within its characters.
02/08/03
A lot of talent was squandered on this incoherent grab bag of war-movie moments.
10/15/02
A historical drama that simply fails to make convincing human connections.
10/10/02
Here's a film with all the right ingredients which somehow manages to taste bland as a hell.
09/10/02
The stunning look of this film took my breath away and overcame its shortcomings for me.
08/02/02
Yet another WWII love triangle that suffers from bad acting, but looks great!
07/09/02
...feels as if it has been manufactured in a chop shop of former Oscar winners and nauseating Miramax 'prestige' puff pieces.
06/21/02
The Greek tourism board couldn't have turned out a more persuasive commercial. Buying the various twists and turns of Shawn Slovo's screenplay, however, is more difficult.
06/09/02
Latest News for Captain Corelli's Mandolin
September 15, 2005:
Critical Consensus: Critics Thank "Heaven," But Don't Praise The "Lord"
This week at the movies brings us a supernatural romance ("Just Like Heaven"), a jaded arms dealer ("Lord of War") and two experiments in terror... More...
April 19, 2005:
Get Ready for Another Dose of "Basic Instinct"
You've heard it mentioned for years, but production is (finally) about to get underway on "Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction." A follow-up to Paul Verhoeven's sexual... More...
June 05, 2001:
Initial test screenings failed to induce awe. Universal, hoping for an Oscar contender, bumped the film from its spring release so that Madden could recut it. 
More...
Related Forums for Captain Corelli's Mandolin
I enjoyed the movie as well
by: G 77 4/6/04
by: G 77 4/6/04
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