That was an excellent one.

Thanks for the memories!

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It's 1940 Greece. Cephallonia is an island of traditions. Pelagia (Penélope Cruz) is the daughter of Dr. Iannis (John Hurt) and girlfriend to childish fisherman Mandras (Christian Bale). Fighting breaks out between Greece and Italy. Mandras goes off to war vowing to marry Pelagia upon his return. The Axis forces march onto the island with no resistance. Italian Captain Antonio Corelli (Nicolas Cage) and his men never fire a shot. Mandras returns terribly injured and then joins the partisans. Despite initial hatred, Pelagia falls for Corelli and his mandolin. Captain Günther Weber (David Morrissey) is the awkward German trying to befriend Corelli. When Italy surrenders, allegiances change.The Anglo-American lead actors strip away the Mediterranean heat. Cage is playing up the quirkiness unnecessarily. Bale can never pass for an islander. Everybody is doing an accent. There is no chemistry between anybody. Cruz is left with no worthy dance partner. There are no compelling relationships and the movie suffers. It's a warmed-up wartime period piece romance.

If you haven't read the book, I recommend you do so, it was truly beautiful, heart-breaking, funny, incredibly romantic and had interesting characters and left vivid imagery in your head. This film from Shakespeare in Love director John Madden is definitely watchable, but it was also a disappointment.Starting with the good things, the scenery, costumes and cinematography are absolutely breathtaking. On top of that the score is absolutely marvellous, Madden's direction is pretty good-though he has directed better especially with the Inspector Morse episodes he directed- and the story is a beautiful and interesting one, with some sweet, funny and touching moments.In terms of acting, it is a mixed bag really. Christian Bale does well with a character that could have done with more development, while John Hurt is even better, Hurt is a brilliant and underrated actor, and playing one of the more intriguing characters he is wonderfully dignified. However, Nicolas Cage is a miscast unfortunately-right, I have nothing against Cage, he has been in some good films and has given some good performances but he has also been very inconsistent. While his role here is not his worst film role(ie. his role in The Wicker Man remake was much worse), his character felt somewhat cartoony complete with an accent that didn't really work as it feels overdone. Penelope Cruz is better though, I did have a problem with her accent (too Spanish for my liking), she does have a nice character to work with and looks amazing.While the acting was a mixed bag and the score and scenery amazing, there are several flaws that stop Captain Corelli's Mandolin from being better than it was. Other reviewers have commented on its resemblance to the book(or lack of it), but there were other things wrong that were more significant to me. Also the book, while wonderful, is quite an ambitious one to bring to screen and I do accept that it wasn't 100% faithful(there have been films that try to do that and don't quite work as a consequence), so while I applaud the film for adapting it it could have been better. The pacing is very languid so the film takes a while to get going, until the final battle segment which felt rushed, while the dialogue is on the sappy side of things. Then there are characters that feel sketched over, I was too disappointed at how Carlo was treated, while some of the secondary characters are rather clichéd and perhaps stereotypical.Overall, disappointing but definitely watching for the scenery, Hurt and music especially. 5.5/10 Bethany Cox

I give it a 2, because of the beautiful Mediterranean Greece, otherwise it would be 1. When Nicholas Cage came into with his first lines, I thought he was just kidding. Cage as an Italian ?? I'm sorry, but very wrong actor who's acting is also BAD, not to mention his Italiano accent. The story is very loose, it might have been good, but with other actors and obviously with other screenplay. The camera is great, photography also but why the hell did you cast Nicholas Cage and Penelope Cruz for the role. Please don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against Cage, he has some really great movies, but he obviously isn't for every role. It's really a pity that the cast wasn't better set, because the story has potential.

I actually was looking forward to this movie. After reading a number of reviews before the release, it sounded like a genuinely nice film, one that was beautifully filmed and one with an interesting cast (Nicholas Cage, Penelope Cruz and John Hurt.)Well, it might have been all of those things BUT it is so boring that I defy almost anyone to sit through this in its entirety and keep attention. Also, Cage's attempt at speaking with an Italian accent is embarrassingly bad. He's such a good actor that I cringed every time he spoke in this film. 'Disappointing" seems to be the most-often word used by reviewers here to describe this film, and I totally agree.I guess it didn't take long for word to get out about how bad this movie was because, like Cage's accent, it did not do well.