I’ve seen worse acting performances than Kate Beckinsale’s in this, but I can’t quite remember when. Her spray-on American accent meets its match in Jeremy Northam’s I-learnt-it-from-Fabio Italian brogue. And they play husband and wife! Their dialogue together begins to sound like a skit. Nick Nolte and Uma Thurman emerge largely unscathed from yet another uninspired James Ivory transcription. How a director as unimaginative and academic as him achieved the reputation he has is beyond me.
