***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** The acting in this film was truly top-notch. Though D'Onofrio's accent was a bit questionable at times, he was believable enough, and George's character was never in question. The story, however, was so absolutely dreadful that I'm surprised that the two fine lead actors agreed to appear in it. I am absolutely shocked that the commentary on this movie has been primarily positive. I had the misfortune of stumbling across this movie on television recently and getting sucked into it, forcing me to spend the better part of two hours wanting to rip the stuffing out of my sofa and eat it, which probably would have been more pleasant than this pile of trash. ****WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS BELOW**** This is basically the story of a woman who is too shallow to accept a simple life with a fisherman despite her love for him, and is rewarded by him spending his life cheating on his wife to be with her. I don't find this "touching" or "romantic" in the slightest. I find it an appalling treatise encouraging women to go ahead and be gold-digging status mongers; your fisherman will come back to you in the end anyway. Oh yeah, and if you decide to follow your heart and devote yourself to the fisherman, expect him to turn his back on you for his socialite mistress. I would have loved it if George had her heart ripped out by Gavin finally telling her that she'd blown her chance and he was going to throw her back to the dogs like the shallow pretentious witch she was. Even George getting a good, vengeful punch in the mouth by Josie's hand at the end would have been somewhat satisfying. ****END SPOILER CONTENT**** If the film's intent was to disgust, appall, and make the watcher feel like throwing a shoe through the screen in hopes of maiming George, then it succeeded. Unfortunately, I think it was supposed to be a gooey, touching romance. Thank goodness real life usually isn't like this horrid commentary on man's values, or I'd be ashamed to be living it.
Review of Desire
