DVD Review: The Reader

Directed by: Stephen Daldry
Written by: David Hare and Bernhard Schlink
Produced by: Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack
Starring: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Cross

---It’s hard to believe that any movie would be rated higher than the movie “Titanic”; the acting was great, but the cinematography and use of CGI was amazing. Kate Winslet’s affair with Leonardo DiCaprio in the film added a romantic twist to the infamous disaster and some emotional investment for the audience. Using that same equation, 2008’s “The Reader” did the same thing with The Holocaust and a steamy affair between Winslet’s character and a 16 year old boy. Today (April 24), it was released on DVD. Following the theatrical release it was nominated for awards by the Academy and other organizations: was it worth the hype?
---The first main action of the movie is a boy named Michael Berg (David Cross) getting off of a train because he is not feeling well. He goes into an alley and collapses in exhaustion. Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet) helps the boy back to his home where he ends up bedridden for three months with scarlet fever. At the decline of his sickness, Michael takes flowers to Hanna and thanks her for her service. Day after day he returns to her house, culminating in a passionate affair for a whole summer. Eventually she disappears leaving Michael to contemplate his experience.
---Years later Michael is attending law school and one of his seminars attends a court case regarding women involved in the Holocaust. Sure enough Hanna is one of the defendants because she was hired by the SS to be a guard in her past. Michael has a key piece of evidence that he learned about Hanna that could make or break the case but sits by in silence. Eventually the case ends with a conviction and Hanna is taken to prison.
---After seeing “The Reader” one should realize that the story is the movie’s biggest strength. It is compelling enough to keep the viewer watching and wanting to know more. Aside from the story nothing makes the movie standout. There are no innovative filming techniques or incredible acting (it was believable but not extraordinary). Occasionally the movie jumps around in time to give a present day-flashback format, probably the ideal format for the way the story unfolds.
---There are specific decisions the producers and director decided to take the film that are relatively disappointing. Certainly there could have been some soft-core shock value when dealing with the Holocaust and Hanna’s crimes. Making the audience grapple with some of history’s most grisly events is never a bad thing, especially when it involves a character that we are emotionally invested in. In addition to this, some of the sex scenes in the beginning are incredibly uncomfortable to watch, most likely because of the forbidden nature of a minor having sex with a person much older than him; and the casual nature in which it is presented.
---Overall the film is quite good but could have been better. Certain aspects of the movie prevent it from becoming a masterpiece but the story is enthralling enough to keep the audience interested. I give the film a 4 out of 5.