The Reader - old review - thought I'd post

Michael (David Kross) becomes infatuated and eventually falls in love with the older, mysterious Hannah Schmitz (Kate Winslet) in post-war Germany. After an exciting affair, filled with arguments, sex and a shared fondness of literature, Hannah inexplicitly disappears. Years later, as David enrols in Law school, he meets Hannah again, this time, she is on trial for crimes committed in her secret life as a holocaust prison guard. The events are remembered through Ralph Fienne’s memory as older David.

The Reader has all the ingredients for an Oscar baity movie: holocaust, period, sadness, forbidden love, Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, director Stephen Daldry and a lot of nudity. However, structurally, the film is not five star material, even though all the elements suggest it really could have been. The romance and chemistry between Kross and Winslet is very realistic and their scenes together are the most successful and captivating, especially their hidden weekend away on a biking holiday. Their romance is both sweet and dangerous. However, the romance is extremely rushed and almost forceful. The first sex scene comes out of nowhere and they fall in love very quickly. The performances of both the actors are very strong, however, I was more impressed with Winslet’s subtle performance in Revolutionary road and think the awards should have been focusing on her performance in that rather than The Reader. Kross holds his own and frequently steals the scenes he is in. Fiennes is the weakest out the three, but that is mainly because he is given the least to do, has the least interesting role and is suffering from Tom Hank’s Esq. Distracting haircut.
The first half, despite reservations about the forcefulness of the romance, is generally successful and far superior to the second half, which focuses upon the trail and the sad life Hannah then leads. The trial goes on for too long and the revelation takes too long to get to. A good 20 minutes could have been edited. Rumours of a rushed editing session to get the film released in time for award consideration suggest that they did not have time to create a coherent flowing script or find a satisfying ending. It feels almost unfinished and another month in postproduction would have helped.
The film feels like a big campaign advert for awards season, and shows that the combination of love and war is too Oscar baity for the voters to ignore, and that the quality of the film is ignored over the subject matter. This is even more annoying this year as some fantastic pieces of work such as The Wrestler, The Dark Knight and Wall E were denied a place in the best picture category and many point the finger at The Reader. I, however, point the blame toward the Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Other elements such as beautiful and atmospheric cinematography, costume design all feel like the correct time period and work well, however, when this is more impressive than the plot and story, the film is not an overall success.