Review of Barney's Version (2010) by Karin M — 04 Jan 2014

Now this was a good movie. I struggled to engage with it for the first forty minutes or so, especially as the Guardian review described it as a comedy, which it isn't. It's a life story, and it has the feel of being taken from life.

I had to work to understand the historical and geographical context, but once that fell into place for me, I was hooked. Having seen Hoffman in a lemon (Mr Magorium) last time around, it was good to see him doing something well.

Paul Giamatti was recently in Downton Abbey, and featured in the Guardian: not an actor I've seen often, but here he was excellent. It's basically a love story, and I'm a sucker for a good love story.

Not necessarily a romance, but a great love story.