The Reader

One would hope that a film involving the direction of Stephen Daldry, a screenplay by David Hare and the acting talents of both Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes might make for something rather special. In truth, though, The Reader feels a little too cold and slender to be ever truly lovable.

We begin in mid-Nineties Germany where Michael (Fiennes) appears to have all the trappings of a wealthy law career. He lacks a rich emotional life, though, and predictably it takes a flashback to explain it. In 1958, Michael was 15 years old (played by David Cross), and a strange encounter introduces him to Hanna (Winslet), who is a great deal older but nonetheless seduces him.

The pair enjoy an affair - lots of warmly-lit curves, strained limbs and some post-coital reading by Michael to convey the couple's emotional attachment. By the 1960s, they are no longer involved, but their lives meet again when Michael is at law school and is taken to see a trial of Nazi war criminals - only for Hanna to be among those charged.

It's here that Michael learns Hanna's dark secret - not her past as a Nazi prison guard (for which she will be sentenced), but the shame of her illiteracy. As secrets go, it's really not so dazzling. And perhaps this is the problem here; everything about The Reader looks wonderful - Winslet especially, who not only looks great but also gives her best to an awkward role - but the film itself has little true depth or emotional resonance. ·