I watched this entire movie and I don't know what it was about. There are so many characters and I don't remember what any of them did. Why is she named Becky? That question haunted me the whole movie long. Her trunk that begins with her could have been a nice through-line, but what. Actually, someone tell me, what? What did her son look like? I am also wondering this. Doesn't the guy who plays Rawdon look like Hugh Jackman? Why didn't they just get Hugh Jackman. Also, it's supposed to be about the 1820's but it was 1817 for a really long time and then all of a sudden it was 12 years later in Germany. I don't know where I am. Here is what I learned from the movie: you can start as a whore and try not to be a whore but you'll be a whore, maybe in India.

My girlfriend received this movie as a gift years ago. We finally got around to watching it yesterday. We both were very bored by the film and still aren't sure what the point of the film was. Here are our issues.1. The film had no identity. This seemed to be one of those films that was filmed while writing it. It never seemed to have any purpose and even the director and actors seemed to be lost as to what they expected out of this film. Based on the description on IMDb, I assumed this was your standard film about a poor woman trying to find love and success. But never does it seem that way. It appears that this movie is just about a woman with poor upbringings who is fortunate enough to often be part of rich families, bouncing from family to family, to become nothing more than who she was before.2. There is no growth in the characters, personally nor physically. The character played by Gabriel Byrne looks exactly the way he did 30+ years previously. But the big issue is that none of the characters, including the main character, seem to have much of a personal growth, epiphany, nor any substance. There is no compassion, sympathy, hatred, nor memorable features from these characters. They are far too easy to forget. There is no true hero, protagonist, nor antagonist. Anytime you do start to get to know a character, they take off and leave the film for a moment. Often without explanation.3. The film isn't very easy to follow. Often many characters are introduced without any explanation or understanding of how these characters are important to the story. Matter of fact, many of the characters could have and should have been either expanded upon or written out of the movie. One example of these characters are the children. In the movie one of the characters is pregnant. A family offers to help her with her child while her husband is gone. The child is born. Next thing you know another child is presented without explanation. The first child all of a sudden is no longer living with this family because his mother moved back in with his grandparents. But the movie doesn't tell you this. What happened is that the main family in the story also had a child but failed to mention this. So you are confused when this boy is running around with black hair, then blond, then black, then blond..... it's poor writing. Later on in the movie another child shows up and the movie doesn't explain who the father is, yet all the rest of the characters know who he is without explanation. Also, some of the main characters get married out of the blue without any mention until after the fact. Two characters will meet one day, flirt for a few seconds, then be married without any wedding nor any indication that these two are in love.4. The movie doesn't follow any plot structure that I'm aware of. There is no dramatic climax nor anything building up to one. Like I said before, the movie has no purpose.The only good things I can say about this movie is that it looks great and I really liked the costumes. The setting and photography were excellent. It was just wasted on such a poor script.

I really loved the cast, set and music. It was simply great to watch. Acting has been on a very high level, all characters have been drawn impressive. I had a lot of fun watching the movie! There have been very few things that disturbed me. The only things that disturbed me, have been in the story.When it came to "side-stories", some things have been a bit overdone story-wise, or simply haven't been very convincing. This I am able to accept. But I can't accept that the main character is not drawn in a consistent way. Sometimes she seems like a immoral social climber, then again she is is the loving, strong, morally feminist. This two things don't go together, at least, it hasn't been convincingly done in this movie. And because of this, I failed to understand a possible message that this movie could have given. Especially with the silly, obligatory Hollywood ending, every message has been destroyed. Allowing the movie to end just before Witherspoon went to India would have made a hell of a lot more sense.

I didn't read the book, though it was one of the Director's favorites from her high school days. Which means her departures weren't ignorant but intentional. Many of the movies in my small library are some of the best of film literature that we have, so there is a great appreciation for it on my part. But I don't think it impossible to make a good movie that differs from the book. Apparently this one, like so many - does.The movie is sumptuous, and beautifully so. It is, as I'm sure others have said, a feast for the eyes. I found it to be most excellent in every way, including both Reese Witherspoon as the lead, and the events coming full circle to a happy ending. If you enjoy the best of Merchant-Ivory, Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, or any other well made period piece - I can't imagine you not enjoying this. It is well worth the watching.Since the entire production crew was a gaggle of women (I say that lovingly), there are visible elements of underlying political and social commentary favoring the feminine. Which is simply an observation, diverging from Mira Nair's small denial to the contrary. It was well written, well acted, well shot and well directed. I've enjoyed it immensely, several times, and will several more . . .