Miranda: Schizoid or con woman? Innocent as a child or seasoned manipulator? Frank the librarian intends to find out, and in the process explores a new kind of love, trying to accept all the possibilities and not lose himself. Christina Ricci carries off all her character's contortions. John Simms' Frank -- WOW! Sweet, open, funny, wise, strong, honest -- forced to look at his preconceived ideas of love also forces Miranda to look at herself and her life; she realizes there is much more to living than just being "in control". Throw in a huge portion of the lovely, skewed British sense of humor and a mad dash of best friend Julian Rhind-Tutt, who sees the world through the eyes of Asian karate films. "Love IS a powerful force." The supporting characters Kyle McLaughlin, John Hurt, Matthew Marsh, etc., all do their jobs well in adding the appropriate tentative creepiness to this sexy film, making Frank a true movie hero. Enjoyed this film very much.

The leading man, so vulnerable yet, adorable. CR, so dark and full of secrets is seductive yet vulnerable in her own protected way. My favorite part is when they are on the sofa, and she jumps up after being asked a question that she doesn't like, then settles to "Let's just enjoy ourselves..." then the leading mans eyes become scared\hurt and full of love and he says..."Don't leave me"...with such a childlike innocence...haunting. You can tell he can hardly believe she even knows he is alive, and she can't believe he made her feel so alive... Definitely a great flick. I am into the Offbeat movies, which CR definitely fills. Her dark elf like beauty, so secretive...the innocent clumsy librarian, who has never lived enough to develop any secrets...Grab a cocktail and enjoy.. Anna

I'm a huge fan of John Hurt, Julian Rhind-Tutt, and Kyle MacLachlan (and a sometime fan of Christina Ricca), but even their considerable talents couldn't save this clunker. The plot -- an unsuccessful combo of a romantic comedy and a caper flick -- is improbable, and it fails; the dialog is often flat/trite/dead; Ricci, though an interesting and compelling presence, fails to make her character believable; and even though John Simm is wonderful as Frank the librarian, I didn't buy his passion for Ricci's character (the writer is to blame for final criticism and partly to blame for the third). What a waste of phenomenal talent and money, and a waste of 90 minutes of my life. Avoid this film.

"Miranda", misbilled as a romance/thriller (no thrills in this flick), is really a dark romantic comedy about an enigmatic woman, Miranda (Ricci), who beguiles a male librarian (Simm) with her haunting beauty and mysterious ways. Long on style and short on story, this film spends most of its time with the title character, of course, which Ricci plays well. The film crashes, however, on story as Miranda is really a pain in the a** and not something we, the audience, are inclined to wish on the more likeable Simm character. Meanwhile, bits and pieces of a story are doled out with the dots never really connected at the end making anything beyond the romantic quest little more than window dressing. Recommended for Ricci fans or dark comedy weirdos. (B-)