I've been a huge fan of this film since it was released and have watched it several times over the years, but as I'm fond of saying in my reviews sometimes as you get older your tastes change. It's hard to fault this film's meticulous attention to detail or the clever way the larger events of the story are counterbalanced with Mr. Stevens's personal life or Anthony Hopkins's razor-sharp performance or the soul-crushing expression on Emma Thompson's face as the bus pulls away at the end, but at times the film feels a bit forced. I never really noticed until a recent viewing that several times throughout the story, from various characters, Mr. Stevens is repeatedly pressed for his personal opinions to the point it becomes annoying. He is harassed by no less than five otherwise polite british people about his views on various issues, which certainly seems rude and intrusive in contemporary times, not to mention the 1930s through the 1950s. I'm left wondering why all these people are treating Mr. Stevens as some sort of freak that they can't quite figure out, scratching their heads in astonishment as they realize that he is, gasp, an introvert who prefers to keep his head down and do his job. No other character in the film is subject to this degree of scrutiny, and the story as a result is top-heavy. Who cares what the butler thinks, leave him alone. I get this is supposed to be a story of unrequited love, but it comes at the expense of a willing suspension of disbelief, and unfortunately this major flaw continues to the very end.
Review of The Remains of the Day
