Review of Winter's Tale (2014) by Walter M — 23 Feb 2014

In "Winter's Tale," Peter Lake(Colin Farrell) has risen from being the orphan child of would-be immigrants to be the protege of crime lord Pearly Soames(Russell Crowe). But after a break caused by deep philosophical differences concerning methods, Peter finds himself on the run and perhaps much worse if not for a flying horse. In any case, he still has to worry about money, wanting to escape New York City at some point. That leads to one bit of thievery which puts him in the direct path of Beverly Penn(Jessica Brown Findlay) who has consumption.

First, I find it almost impossible to hate a movie as sincere and heartfelt as "Winter's Tale," although some seemed to have made it their mission in life to do so. Just as Russell Crowe can do little wrong in my mind, there are also other things to appreciate in this story about a battle between good and evil involving Runyonesque characters such as Grand Central Station being used to excellent effect and Lucifer reading 'A Brief History of Time.'(Not as ironic as Darkseid reading 'Mein Kampf' in JLI #21 but still.) However, the movie has more than its share of faults that cannot be covered under its suspension of disbelief policy like say some basic math and its magic not working as well in the present as it does in the past.