And here we have the Best Picture winner from 1998. I’m not sure how historically accurate the film is. The film is enjoyable to watch and memorable for what it is. It doesn’t do anything spectacular, though.
I love the fact that the film is a genuine comedy. This setup could have easily been done all serious, but they went the comedy route and managed to get some laughs. It’s also nice to see the Academy give Best Picture to a comedy, changing it up a bit from standard fare.
The ensemble works well off of each other, but no one in the cast will blow you away. In fact, the best performance in the film might belong to Judi Dench, who is barely in the movie but makes such an impression.
It’s a fine film that does what it sets out to do. I’d recommend seeing it, but it’s not essential.
****
CONMAN AT THE MOVIES 
I’m one of the few who prefers this to Saving Private Ryan and actually kind of love this film, Paltrow’s performance and the ensemble as a whole. It’s a comedy, through and through, and I adore that AMPAS went there, even if it was under heavy manipulation from Harvey.
This film is also so pretty!
yes, I agree that this is a very good film and works on so many levels. I’m still in the camp that SPR was completely snubbed, but history is history even when the Weinstein’s are involved and despite their being a cloud over this movie’s win for me, it still is a very enjoyable movie to watch.
Great review!
I was actually a bit disappointed by this film, but I might try seeing it again (it’s been several years). It was a beautiful film to look at it, but I wasn’t impressed with much outside of that. But again, a few years later, I might have a different perspective on it.