The Reader | Full Movie | Movies Anywhere

As such, its strength lies almost solely in [Kate] Winslet's performance; it is an astonishing and compelling portrayal of a complex woman.

Where The Reader fails most is in its inability to get into the characters and push them to become more than depressive people with sagging hearts.

Screenwriter David Hare deftly navigates the tricky moral waters with the same poetic eloquence he brought to The Hours.

You can't fault the performances. They're all top-notch, particularly that of young Mr. Kross, who is a real find, and Miss Winslet, who does her best to augment the script with her expressive face.

If this film were a meal, it would be like having your pudding first, and then having to chew through one hell of a lot of wet spinach.