Aside from Brett Cullen (who looked mighty fine when this movie was made), this is a real stinker of a film.

The main character in this film is mentally ill, and the plot (and the overacting) spill out in all directions. I blame the director, who should've tidied up the script and also found a better actress to play the lead. Better music would've helped, as well as better supporting actors.

The characters are all so unlikeable, including poor Brett Cullen's character (the husband) who is about as unsympathetic and forgetful as can be. I reckon he needed the work to pay for his mortgage or his kid's braces (actors are people too).

This film is based on the true story of a young man's first summer clearing trails for the U.S. parks/forest service. It takes place about a hundred years ago, but is as applicable today.

The characters are real characters, the dialogue and events interesting and engaging, and you'll find yourself rooting for several people for different reasons.

The Ranger: The tough guy with a heart of gold and a fondness for choosing his words sparingly

The Cook: who 'won't' play cards (which drives one guy to find out WHY not)

The Hole in the sky: one of those WTF moments that anyone who has spent time in the great outdoors will truly appreciate and scratch their head over.

No nudity, no profanity, but very enjoyable. We watch this film at least once a year and have bought extra copies to give to friends.

Unless you hate the outdoors, you'll love this film.

Other reviewers have explained the plot of this film, so I'll just add that if you enjoy an intelligently written, well acted, keeps-you-guessing-till-the-very-end film, this one is for you.

My butt lifted off the sofa more than once (and yours will too, I'm sure), and I was very glad I wasn't eating or drinking anything during any of the frequent surprising moments in this film. There are plently of twists and turns, and you'll wonder till the end if the main character you've come to perhaps like or at least sympathize with is crazy, or if he is who he thinks he is.

We found ourselves digging our fingers into the sofa, leaning forward, and even bouncing up and down while watching this thrill-ride, and we almost NEVER get so deeply absorbed in a film, so that aspect of it was also very enjoyable.
It reminded us how much we used to enjoy films, before so many films started to be churned out from the mindless drivel factory.

Fall in love with films again: Watch "Unknown" tonight!

We first saw this on Netflix and liked it so much (aside from one gorey part involving a wild critter ("dinner") being carved up/'cleaned') we bought a hard copy on amazon.ca.

If you like thrillers, this is a film for you. In fact, there are so many twists and turns (and some kick-butt action sequences) you will resent the fact you have to "pause" the film for a bathroom break or a ringing phone.

I love the gorgeous scenery, the pace of the film, and the fact that it includes some capable "I CAN take care of myself, thank you!" women, which is such a huge change from the usual Hollywood cookie cutter roles.

I enjoyed the twists and turns (and, let's face it, I enjoyed seeing Timothy Olyphant's firm bare butt in one scene ;-) hee hee), and some of the twists and turns are actually highly unexpected, and one or two will have you wearing your popcorn or your drink.
Oh, my rear lifted off the sofa a few times!! Nearly had a heart attack at one point (if you've seen the film, y'all know what I'm talking about!!)

Keeps you guessing, intelligently written, well acted, gorgeous scenery, Timothy O nekked... what more could you ask for?

Oh, and if Timothy O's nekkedness doesn't do anything for you, there's a hot nekked woman in the film as well. Lol.

Not quite the finished quality of years ago, but Jenga is still well enough made (of hardwood) and entertains everyone, whether playing or watching. I haven't got a sliver yet, although I have taken a Dremel sanding bit to a rough edge or two.

Terribly overpriced on amazon though. We bought ours for about $20 at well.ca (they offer free shipping too).

For anyone who doesn't know how Jenga is played: you stack the blocks, then take turns removing one block and placing it on top. Simple but fun, and it's appeal has outlasted so many other games.

I grew up eating traditional Russian food prepared by 100% Russians born in Russia and I recognize almost nothing in this cookbook.
I do see a lot of recipes in this book that I would label "scrounge" recipes, perhaps used by people in the USSR at the height of food shortages and times of famine. But hey, people in nazi-occupied countries during WW 2 boiled old leather shoes to make "broth" and ate grass or even dirt rather than starve to death. Doesn't mean a Dutch or Austrian cookbook should list Leather Shoe Broth or Grass Salad as traditional Dutch or Austrian recipes tho. If you have a delicate stomach, or if you value your money, give this book a miss.

A mostly unlikeable group of people meet at a friend's estate, and the mostly bad dialogue, ridiculous situations, and starched faces keep going until the film ends.

Hugh Laurie is almost likeable, and Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson shine, as does Rita Rudner, but Stephen "cheeks-stuffed-with-cotton-balls" Fry and several others give their usual drooping eyelids/sleepy/emotion-less performances.

The film drags on, touching on what the writers seem to think are funny or funny-ish subjects such as binge eating, eating disorders, AIDS, ticking biological clocks, SIDS, grieving parents, and so on.

On the up-side, the film's soundtrack is quite good. Pity the film isn't.

It has a second name: Wilde. Couldn't resist. Well, maybe I could have.

While this film was well put together (cinematography and costumes) and most of the actors give very fine performances, we hated this film. Stephen Fry is always the same, giving the same cheeks full of cotton, emotion-less performance in every film he does. He's too old for the part (Tom Wilkinson, who looks the same age, plays Oscar's father), too emotion-less, and never opens his eyelids more than half-way, giving the impression of sleep-walking through the film, which he seems to do.

Wilkinson is engaging and passionate, even though he plays a rigid and pretty unlikeable character, but the most unappealing and unlikeable character by far is "Oscar" (Fry) himself. Selfish to the extreme, self-indulgent, weak of mind and weak of will, willing to condemn his loving wife and young children to a life sentence of poverty and humiliation so he can have a casual roll in the sheets with a young man... well... it's stomach turning. And it's not the Wilde described by so many who claim to have known him in real life.

The way the story is presented, and Fry's sleep-walking performance turned us off this film, and left a bad taste in our mouths.

In a nutshell:

A privileged, wealthy couple (a very odd pairing of actors who also have zero chemistry) with a huge home, huge yard, perfect everything, live The Life until someone runs over the husband of one of their servants.

Through a series of twists and turns, lies and deceit, it comes out that the dead man was run over by (I shouldn't spoil it) and the cover-up begins. There's a side story about a former lover dying of AIDS, and the plot gets convoluted, and, in the end, you wonder where the heck the last 90 minutes went, and why you watched the whole film expecting it to get better.

The characters lack depth and are very unlikeable, act spoiled and stupid, and, in the end, we were very disappointed.

This film could've had depth, could've had a better plot, better twists and turns, and been so much better.

This is not a "who-dunnit", it isn't about murder or death, and it runs in endless circles. I wish we'd known before we bought it. Pssst. Want to buy a DVD? Cheap?

This movie's plot has been in dozens of other films, but here we go:

What if your life was going to end tomorrow, or next week? And what if you knew it? What if someone who loves you knew it? How would they live their life (or run yours) if they knew and they tried to change "fate"?

In a nutshell:
American woman teaches music in London, has a British boyfriend. Their relationship doesn't really "go" anywhere, and neither of them will take risks. He won't let her into his past or personal life (I know it sounds weird, and it is weird), and she won't take the risk of singing (songs she's written) in front of an audience, even though she's some sort of musical genius.

Boyfriend sees the future (in a weird way I won't spoil for you) and tries to change it, and lives the last two days of girlfriend's life differently (including a rail trip and lengthy mountain climb that wouldn't really take only a couple of hours) but it's all in vain, and, because he's let her into his past and his heart so completely (trying to cheat fate and change the future), he comes out even worse in the end, and so does she.

The reasons for the boyfriend keeping his past so secret, as well as many other things, are never explained, and the characters seem fairly flat.

And JLH's voice is breathy and weak (in case anyone thinks that after all the build-up throughout the film about how wonderful it is that it will somehow sound like Jackie Ewancho or Amanda Seyfried) and it leaves viewers scratching their heads about how her character got into a music school and now teaches there without being able to play more than a couple of chords, write anything good, or sing well.

Ah well, if you need a good cry, this is the film. Otherwise, pass.