Captivating from the beginning to the end.

Bought the video on sale. Never heard about it before. Best quality: it's captivating from beginning to end. And it is due to Kristin Scott Thomas and Anne Bancroft. Bancroft is having a ball as the Princess and I was, too. Penn is terribly miscast. One wonders what he is doing there. There is also a very underrated actor, James Fox, who is, as always, excellent. And the strange acting of Jeremy Davies as the Austrian immigrant. Leonard Maltin said in his Bible-Video Guide book that he was terrible. Well, for me, he looked so natural that I would accept this kind of bad acting anytime. Who is going to see this film? To enjoy it? Because even if Penn isn't at his place, the movie is worth seeing it. Strange story. Apparently from W. Somerset Maugham, one of the best storyteller and one of my favorites. And Philip Haas' directing is good.