Eric Bana miscast?

I haven't read the book and I'm only halfway through the film yet, but getting a wife with an almost adolescent kid on your shoulders isn't the easiest thing. Maybe he didn't want to jeopardize the already fragile environment for Raimond, too afraid he might bring home another like his mother? Moreover picking up women kinda isn't about the good looks only; if you don't have the confidence, which seems to be just the case, good looks aren't going to redeem you.

Also, what worldly woman would go to a farm in the middle of nowhere where life consist of hard work before breakfast, hard work after breakfast, hard work before lunch, hard work after lunch, hard work all afternoon, hard work before supper, hard work after supper and BE happy there and stay... What woman would find anything common to talk about with Romulus?

It sounds romantic on the paper, yeah - a farm in the bush, a rancher, etc - but living it isn't a dream, though through Christina you got to see how women were then and how they are to this day, always reaching for more, more, more, forgetting that if they're lucky, they get to meet a man like Romulus once in a lifetime. Men like him aren't waiting around every corner...

Anyway, you can't watch Eric in the role with the tint of an international superstar. As long as you see him on the screen and not Romulus, you're getting it wrong. =:)

If the Gods want to punish you, they answer your prayers.

He was attractive but he was also still very much emotionally attached to his wife. He was emotionally avaiable. At one point when he's writing a letter to the new woman he stops. Then another time puts her picture face down on the table. To me that said he wasn't ready to move on from his wife.

I also believe that as an immigrant he was still tied to the old country and possibly felt a sense of wanting to connect with and help fellow countrymen/women.

I think so. Such an inconsistent performance, he couldn't sustain Romulus' accent, there were moments when he was over-the-top, and he was barely in it (his character was hardly developed), how was he Best Actor and Smitt-Mcphee Best Supporting Actor?

On the other hand, he had some nice moments, ie the bees at the end, and after he received EST. They were handled with maturity and aplomb, but it's such an inconsistent performance, he wasnt really even in character for most of it.

The film (and Bana's performance) could have done with a few more of the quirky, eccentric comedic moments and aspects of his character present in the book. Instead The film focused on the depressing aspects of his story, and it was poorly edited so it was just one bad event after another. That's not filmmaking, if you want the audience to respond then tell it a bit more cohesively, don't just visit a novel, pick out the scenes most likely to make the film win awards and make the audience cry, stitch them together in a poorly written script and expect the actors and film to come off doing well.

...

Well you see Nero is from Romulus so it fits quite nicely.

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