Nah, Meryl, Philip and Amy were playing it up for the Oscars. (Sorry Meryl.) Don’t get me wrong, they’re all outstanding actors, but in this film, I felt them aiming for that little statue.     Their performances were too dramatic, too over the top. They put as much emotion (and facial expression) as they could into every line, instead of just ‘living’ the characters.     For goodness sake, Amy Adams was brilliant in ‘Junebug’. So was Philip Seymour Hoffman in, no not ‘Capote’, but rather in ‘Before the Devil knows you’re dead’. They immersed themselves i

n the characters and storylines. Their own (Oscar driven) egos were not present.

On the opposite side of the coin, Viola Davis, had me gaping at the screen in disbelief. And she’s only on screen for like 7 minutes, but, boy, in those 7 minutes she is overpowering. I did not see the actress, I saw the character.

In the end, the film is well crafted and decently shot. I enjoyed the intrigue and loved the fact that the trailer did not reveal EVERYTHING about the film. There are a few surprises in store.

I’m still a little unsure though about of the point of it all, but then again, maybe the point of the movie is to fill me with DOUBT…