Review of Shadowlands (1993) by Jim C — 19 May 2004

One of the saddest movies ever made! Based on a true story, Anthony Hopkins plays Anglican apologist C.S. Lewis ? author of the Narnia Chronicles and a man who has preached all his adult life about the problems of pain and suffering, only to have never really to have faced either while living a cozy life with his brother at Oxford University.

Then one day his life changes as he meets - and falls in love with - with an outspoken ?American former Communist Jew? (Deborah Winger) who turns his life upside down ? yet also makes it worthwhile before she dies a tragically early death from cancer.

I won't lie to you - the first four times I saw this movie I cried my eyes out - even in public and with my old friend Terry Moseley (who was crying as well). Though the film breaks your heart, more than any other movie I've seen it personifies the idea of true love and how it's better to have had it - even when it's gone - than to never have experienced it at all.

Interesting to note that this is the only movie out of the 32 I've rated on RT so far that's gotten a 100% on the tomatometer! That should tell you something!