I just saw this film today and wanted to write a comment to warn others not to waste two hours of their precious lives on it.
I give it 5 points because the acting was excellent; the soundtrack also. But I found the relationship between Kingsley and Cruz incredible, and the whole plot incredibly out-of-date. It could have been written 40 years ago. I'm amazed that the script was able to find financing, much less its notable cast.
Lots of little minor details bothered me: the Spanish given name is Consuelo, NOT Consuela. Anyone who immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba at age 11 would not have Cruz' charming Spanish accent. It is also incredible that a white Cuban family "with money to travel" would have immigrated to the U.S. in the late 80s; to the best of my knowledge, all such Cubans immigrated 25 years earlier.
(And why was Cruz cast in this film? What made her want to take on the role? She did a good job, but she's at least 10 years too old for the part and, as others have noted, the script gives her nothing interesting to say.)
Finally, having studied English at the doctoral level, I found the academic trappings incredible as well. What is the Kingsley character being paid to teach? Modern criticism? If so, why would he be doing research on a (mythical) colony of hedonistic early settlers eventually done in by Miles Standish? I wish that people who write about what they don't know would do a little research themselves first.
I give it 5 points because the acting was excellent; the soundtrack also. But I found the relationship between Kingsley and Cruz incredible, and the whole plot incredibly out-of-date. It could have been written 40 years ago. I'm amazed that the script was able to find financing, much less its notable cast.
Lots of little minor details bothered me: the Spanish given name is Consuelo, NOT Consuela. Anyone who immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba at age 11 would not have Cruz' charming Spanish accent. It is also incredible that a white Cuban family "with money to travel" would have immigrated to the U.S. in the late 80s; to the best of my knowledge, all such Cubans immigrated 25 years earlier.
(And why was Cruz cast in this film? What made her want to take on the role? She did a good job, but she's at least 10 years too old for the part and, as others have noted, the script gives her nothing interesting to say.)
Finally, having studied English at the doctoral level, I found the academic trappings incredible as well. What is the Kingsley character being paid to teach? Modern criticism? If so, why would he be doing research on a (mythical) colony of hedonistic early settlers eventually done in by Miles Standish? I wish that people who write about what they don't know would do a little research themselves first.