The Reader

While "The Reader" starts out with a "Summer of '42" vibe between young Michael and 30-ish Hannah in 1958 in Germany, the story unfolds and mines its poignancy from the brief fling that begins with Hannah's enjoyment of Michael reading her books from his homework assignments, and Michael's quite understandable exhuberance in his sexual awakening in his high school days.

Kate Winslet is on the the top of her game as Hannah, although her character isn't deeply fleshed out as the film's central character is Michael, played Ralph Fiennes in his older capacity with much bottled up self-loathing at times, and newcomer David Kross plays young Michael in his high school and college years. The story covers 4 decades, and it flits in and out of events in a non-linearly fashion, but director Stephen Daldry doesn't allow the time changes to confuse or obscure the narrative, although my minor quibble with the film is that it takes forever for its final act to wrap up, and could have been tightened up a bit. That being said, there are some deeply affecting emotional beats from the film's main theme in the last act, although the characters never quite stir any substantial investment from me, you'll never take for granted:


Warning Spoiler!
the gift of literacy in your everyday life,


If you're a fan of Kate Winslet, this is worthy a trip to the movies.

I give it 3.5 stars, or a grade of B+ (mainly for an overly long final act).