Review of Love in the Time of Cholera (2007) by Kyle G — 22 May 2012

Shamelessly planting itself entirely within a puffy abstraction, Mike Newell's adaptation doesn't pause to consider or justify it and so winds up running the decks on a fast-sinking ship.

The original book could avoid this mistake, with innovative language and a fabulist's voice that gave the story momentum; other movies (even silly romantic comedies) can avoid it, by broadening their themes enough to let us inside.

But when the only reason for a story -- presented from the beginning as an all-powerful idea -- seems cracked and silly, there's not much hope that it will prove interesting.