Ann Patchett's novel has been 'altered' by Anthony Weintraub and director Paul Weitz and the result is a barely recognizable resemblance. It is obvious that the screenwriters wanted to take the movie into the current discussion of immigration and the journey through Central America by focusing on the dysfunctional governments in South America (and North America now.....) in their mistreatment of refugees and immigrants who are imprisoned and separated from their families. And if the film focuses our attention on a problem that most assuredly needs changing then the story works well.
In Patchett's sensitive novel, a world-renowned opera singer Roxanne Coss (visually Julianne Moore, sonically Renee Fleming) becomes trapped in a hostage situation when she's invited to perform for a wealthy industrialist in South America. There is a love affair between Roxanne and the important Hosokawa (Ken Watanabe) as well as one between the translator Gen (Ryo Kase) and a female soldier Carmen (Maria Mercedes Coroy) but those affairs get lost in the darkened rooms of the mansion where the hostage holders struggle with the government - the only speaking source of intervention is a Red Cross worker Messner (Sebastian Koch).
The message of hostages begins a few minutes after the opening arrival of Roxanne and remains until the end - too much too long. A fine cast just can't fin their way out of this flimsy script. If you loved the novel, pass....Even the excerpts of Renee Fleming's vocals fail to impress.
In Patchett's sensitive novel, a world-renowned opera singer Roxanne Coss (visually Julianne Moore, sonically Renee Fleming) becomes trapped in a hostage situation when she's invited to perform for a wealthy industrialist in South America. There is a love affair between Roxanne and the important Hosokawa (Ken Watanabe) as well as one between the translator Gen (Ryo Kase) and a female soldier Carmen (Maria Mercedes Coroy) but those affairs get lost in the darkened rooms of the mansion where the hostage holders struggle with the government - the only speaking source of intervention is a Red Cross worker Messner (Sebastian Koch).
The message of hostages begins a few minutes after the opening arrival of Roxanne and remains until the end - too much too long. A fine cast just can't fin their way out of this flimsy script. If you loved the novel, pass....Even the excerpts of Renee Fleming's vocals fail to impress.