lust, caution

I don't like to read reviews in detail before I go see a movie, but often I want to find out if it's worth the time and the $8.50. That's where Rotten Tomatoes (which I've added to my pull down list of search engines) comes in handy. You can get a quick sense of the 'thumbs up' to 'thumbs down' ratio of a film reflected in links to dozens of reviews. Scanning the headers is a great way to get a spoiler-free review. You'll get a quick summary of the film's strength or weakness without getting too much information.

I think it was on Rotten Tomatoes that I read that Lust, Caution was a lesser Ang Lee movie, but that even a lesser Ang Lee movie was well worth the watch. I agree.

One has to respect a movie that slowly and carefully tells a richly crafted but simple story. Even in the absence of any voice-over, the viewer strongly feels the presence of the outside narrator telling the tale. The success of simple tales often depend on how well they convey the universality of the human experience they depict. The sadness of death; the joy of falling in love, etc. A movie that purports to be about passion must skillfully provide a "shortcut" of sorts that tricks us into feeling that strong emotions are warranted -- even though we may have only met the character 10 minutes earlier. Lust, Caution made me think alot, but it did not make me feel enough. The title makes me think that shortcoming was intentional, but I think the movie would have been stronger with more heart and less head.