Ralph Fiennes can fall into similar pool of talented performers who can also have a knack at direction just like Robert Redford, Mel Gibson and Clint Eastwood. In his directorial debut, "Coriolanus" Fiennes combines a Shakespeare film that anyone can grasp at. Even if you don't have a degree in Shakespearean literature. In his 30 year career, Fiennes has built an impressive reputation of really getting emotionally deep into his characterizations and going out of way to make the complexities of his characters something to get his audience a reason to root for. His direction has similar traits to his performances. The film explores the strengths and vulnerabilities of his character along with the many triumphs and failures while keeping his characters look and feel real.Fiennes stars as Caius Martius Coriolanus, a mighty but questionable general in the Roman army. During a altercation with a rival army brigade, he goes beyond protocol that cause his civil liberties to be in doubt. An activist elite wants Coriolanus evicted for his violations. For his heroic accomplishments, his supportive mother Volumnia (Vanessa Redgrave) suggests he be ranked to the position to the high office of the Consul. But he must get support of from the destitute who were the ones most affected by his questionable deeds. Many people want him to reach out and restore peace which also includes his wife Virgilia (Jessica Chastain). He agrees to get support, but the activists don't want any of that. Feeling rejected from those he stood up for, Coriolanus joins forces with his enemy Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler). The consequences come into play once these two form an alliance.I may feel like a complete idiot, but I may as well make confession to all of you. I have always had trouble deciphering Shakespeare. The language and the lingo was all so complex. Even simple tales like "Romeo and Juliet" are hard to fully translate. On the plus side, "Coriolanlus" was quite easy to get invested in. Thanks to the script from John Logan his technical skills make it easy to get under without insulting our intelligence. In various scenes, mock TV newscasts appear to gather updates during the coarse of the action. A real added treat is that some of the characters actually speak in more modernized language so that not all Shakespearean literature geniuses will be lost in translation. The actors also contribute to the worthy cause by generating emotions that are effective and their language tones are clear enough so that we can care about the characters while the performers understand that we're not living in the 16th century and our language has altered a bit over the years for better or worse.The ensemble cast is quite remarkable. Fiennes is just genuinely jacked up as the titular character. His rage and intensity sends chills as he plays a man who doesn't act, but demands our respect. If you put this guy down in any way, vengeance will be just a motion away whether you deserved it or not. Fiennes is just powerfully scary. Redgrave is equally ambitious as his mother who is there at all times for her son. In an extended scene, we see Volumnia trying to get some sense into Coriolanus, but her efforts end up becoming ostracized. Butler as Tullus Aufidius is just the perfect foil of an adversary to Coriolanus. There clashes are fierce with neither of them backing down. Jessica Chastain and Brian Cox show get support as Coriolanus' boss and his trusty confidant are brilliant in their respected performances.It must've took a lot of work to adapt a Shakespearean story told in modern times. But Fiennes and Logan manage to accomplish that by finding the theme while modernizing the scenarios for our viewing pleasures. The action scenes are plugged in fantastically to keep us over the edge and supports the plot flawlessly. In our lifetimes, we had very powerful figures and they all shared one thing we all strive for, to earn respect. People have not always made choices to seek our approval without concern of who will face the consequences. We've been victims under leaders who have been barbarians, psychopaths and cynics. The film explore all those surfaces which makes it very symbolic and accurate.Well executed cinematography, perfectly placed editing and very well performed, "Coriolanus" went beyond my expectations to being a very entertaining film. The intense atmosphere will likely suck you in. It might help that you understand Shakespeare to get the grasp of the story. If you don't understand the old English of Shakespeare, fear not, the Bard's work are still effective while also has the liberal license to offer new approaches to the classic play. This is clearly a great adaptation to a Shakespearean classic.

Reading the Amazon write-up, I expected a Roman times thriller ... instead I got a modern day thriller taking place in a non-Rome "Rome," with ancient Roman names, and, of all things, Shakespearean language. Great actors and great acting aside, I'm one of the vast majority who despise Shakespeare and his unintelligible manner of speaking. I'm happy for the .025% of folks who enjoy this kind of thing, but for the rest of us, please warn us ahead of time, OK? Unless these fine actors were working for scale, this flick had to have lost multi-millions, taking in (according to IMDb) a pitiful $600k+.So if you LOVE Shakespeare, you'll love this flick. If you don't, stay FAR, FAR away!

In his directorial debut, Ralph Fiennes shows that not only he is capable of directing film, but that Shakespeare's insights into human behavior, especially in observations of politics, remain timeless. He puts the play written in the early 1600s in modern context, and gives such an raw, real performance you can't help not recognize from. Gerard Butler amazes in his performance no one thought he could do, because all roles before and since 300 have been beefcake roles and questionable performances. Butler masters Shakespeare with such depth and tactics that fulfill that his performance is one of the best he's done. Vanessa Redgrave's Volumnius is one of many phenomenal performances she has done in her career- the scenes where she is talking plans with her character's son and the scene outside of the Senate are excellently done. Redgrave has done Shakespeare before, and can easily make the language accessible as the speaker. Jessica Chastain shows her versatility in her performance in this film greatly, but, as Shakespeare wrote, it cannot be said that she is underused because of that. Chastain gives a great supporting performance of a character who is still not well known of Shakespeare's tragic heroines. A great film that speaks of our time, where officials of wealth and privilege feel the need that that wealth and privilege makes them special enough to disregard the right and voice of the people they claim to represent, and where officials with their own interests can stir the masses for private gain.

Coriolanus is a long way from being one of Shakespeare's most accessible plays. The Roman plays in general have a not entirely fair reputation for being full of long speeches and low on plot; it's tempting to meet the title with a shrugged 'who' (or 'what'?); it's not a very regularly performed play anyway, so it doesn't have many opportunities to make a bid for the limelight. So on the face of it this is strange choice of material for Ralph Fiennes on his directorial debut; especially when you consider that he's also the star. In Fiennes and his adapter's hands the play becomes a sleek, streamlined political drama with visceral action sequences Transported to "a place calling itself Rome" that plays more like a wartime Bosnia. Coriolanus is heroic general, feted with praise and encouraged, or forced, by his mother (Vanessa Redgrave) to seek the powerful position of Consul. He finds himself unable to play the political games with the people required to get the post; his anger on not getting the position leads to a riot and exile. In exile he forms an alliance with former enemy Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler) in order to take revenge. It's a tense and gripping watch; the new setting lends greater immediacy and sense of threat, the edits give clean lines a plot that fairly zips along. The action sequences are fine; not outstanding, but suitably brutal to maintain the law of the jungle sense of ancient Rome. The air is suffused with testosterone, with men not backing down from each other. The female characters are cleverly dressed to look more military, if not masculine then at the least not emphasizing femininity. This is a male environment, with the smoke of combat never far away. That approach explains the choice of Gerard Butler for the role of Tullus; which would make sense if he didn't appear so dramatically out of his depth. He alone amongst the cast doesn't seem comfortable with the language, brooding too much and forgetting to back-up his physical presence with words that are threatening or venomous. Which is a huge contrast to Fiennes in the lead role. Battle-scarred and, for most of the film, bloodied, when he's not fighting he's a caged tiger. It's clear why men will follow him into battle; haranguing bullet-ridden corpses for a lack of commitment, his men fight for and with their leader. It makes sense of his unwillingness to stay around to hear the story of his exploits; this is a man of deeds, not words. When he's finally bought face-to-face with his estranged family in a climactic showdown he's largely silence, trying to keep a crumbling facade in place.Which all works well as far as plot and the themes of power and alpha masculinity go, but does mean that the film has precious little emotional heft; even in a denouement which should at the least brush the heart, it becomes more of an action movie showdown with much better dialogue. It seems a hard criticism, but ultimately it's the fruit of the understandable choices made with the plot and style of the film. The updating convinces; the drama grips; the action impresses. It's just a shame there's not more heart to go with all the guts.