Kristin Kreuk was absolutely phenomenal. I say this (as a guy) because almost immediately during the movie I felt that inner protector in me spring to life. I wanted nothing more than to reach out and save her from her plight. Like the male lead in the movie, I slowly but surely fell in love with her innocence, her humility, and her soft spoken mannerisms, all of which were very much a part of her charm and made her hard to resist. Later it was her boldness (and of course her beauty) that finally sends you over the edge. Truly wonderful acting on her part.
As for Jimis character (Gian Singh), there wasn't a second in the entire movie where I didn't feel that he was in love. Where the movie falls a bit short is with fleshing out his character. Within a few minutes of the start of the movie, we are taken 5 years into the future (post war). This leaves us guessing as to how he becomes the broken and war tattered soul that this man is supposed to represent throughout the movie. Of course, a little imagination goes a long ways, but it would have been nice to relate to the broken man BEFORE his first encounter with the woman that would change his life and give him reason to live. I believe that change would have made me fall in love with her and relate to him in a much more personal way all at the same time. Instead, the missing links (the effects of the war) are only found during a few short flashbacks....not enough to really feel his pain. The final result is that I fall in love with the female character simply because I personally want to, and not because I want the male character to (who I should be rallying behind and relating to at this point).
That being said, the acting is top notch, with the lead pair really doing a fantastic job of drawing you into their world. Kristin was absolutely amazing all by herself, and Jimi lends to this by being heads above most male leads coming out of Hollywood today. This alone makes it worth watching, albeit as a love story alone.
If it's movie night, I recommend watching this one first....before the action movies or comedy because of it's slightly slower than steady pace.
As for Jimis character (Gian Singh), there wasn't a second in the entire movie where I didn't feel that he was in love. Where the movie falls a bit short is with fleshing out his character. Within a few minutes of the start of the movie, we are taken 5 years into the future (post war). This leaves us guessing as to how he becomes the broken and war tattered soul that this man is supposed to represent throughout the movie. Of course, a little imagination goes a long ways, but it would have been nice to relate to the broken man BEFORE his first encounter with the woman that would change his life and give him reason to live. I believe that change would have made me fall in love with her and relate to him in a much more personal way all at the same time. Instead, the missing links (the effects of the war) are only found during a few short flashbacks....not enough to really feel his pain. The final result is that I fall in love with the female character simply because I personally want to, and not because I want the male character to (who I should be rallying behind and relating to at this point).
That being said, the acting is top notch, with the lead pair really doing a fantastic job of drawing you into their world. Kristin was absolutely amazing all by herself, and Jimi lends to this by being heads above most male leads coming out of Hollywood today. This alone makes it worth watching, albeit as a love story alone.
If it's movie night, I recommend watching this one first....before the action movies or comedy because of it's slightly slower than steady pace.