Movie #701 ........................."Anna Karenina (2012)"

Movie #701 "Anna Karenina" is pretty and gutsy, but it fails to draw in the viewer, in my opinion. It takes a very emotional book and reduces it to emptiness.......we don't care by the time Anna gets to the famous ending ---- the film at that point makes a huge effort to get us to by showing flashes of the scenery going by on her lifeless eyes ---- but up until that point, we really haven't cared that much and neither has her husband --- he is so lifeless, sorry Jude Law, that I'm surprised he didn't fall asleep while he was reciting his lines --- and the boyfriend isn't that much better. There doesn't seem to be chemistry between the lovers, as they are posed in each other's eyes. I ordinarily like Keira Knightley, and I think she really tries here, too, and she looks the part, but there's so much working against her, that it doesn't seem to come true. The biggest is the style of the piece ---- it's done like a stage play, with actors making no bones about being actors, moving from one undressed set to perhaps a stage, or right next door to someone's bedroom (with the furniture stacked up on top of each other) ---- very strange, and it actually pushes the viewer away because of the "out there" style --- the best part of the film, in my opinion, is Anna's brother played with aplomb by her lover in "Pride and Prejudice" Matthew Macfadyen --- he's a stitch and really makes the film come to life, but other than that, it's like a slow moving train to the bitter end --- excuse the pun. P.S. one thing the film DOES do is show you how isolated Anna becomes in her society because of her infidelity choices ---- people stand in tableau when she walks by --- but then that's one theme it accomplishes. I wouldn't recommend this. I gave this 3 out of 5 stars Anna Karenina2012R Oscar winner Tom Stoppard penned this adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's classic novel, which stars Keira Knightley as the titular 19th-century Russian aristocrat who enters into a passionate and forbidden love affair with the well-heeled Count Vronsky. Cast:Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Matthew Macfadyen, Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, Kelly Macdonald, Ruth Wilson, Olivia Williams, Emily Watson Genre:Romantic Dramas, Dramas Based on Classic Literature, Pre-20th Century Period Pieces, Romance