# Anna Karenina - agree with me or my wife? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 26, 2012, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145 "2012-11-26T13:25:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/1 "2012-11-26T13:25:53Z")
I was surprised not to see a thread about the new movie - if my search missed it, please delete this thread. Have you seen it? Do you intend to? What are your thoughts? My wife gave it a couple of big thumbs up. I was checking my watch less than an hour in. I admit, I didn’t expect to like it going in, and only went because my wife wished to. I am not a huge Kiera Knightly fan - and in this she gave her standard performance showing emotion by either laughing hysterically while jutting her jaw, or clenching her jaw and speaking through her teeth really fast. And tho I enjoyed the book, I pretty intensely disliked both the title character and Vronsky, and far preferred the Levin story. While I appreciate the effort of the “play within the film”, I quickly found the conceit distracting. Jude Law was fantastic as always, tho, and the costuming was outstanding. I sure don’t imagine it drawing in tons of custom. My wife was entralled to the point she didn’t even notice the old couple 3 rows up and to the right talking throughout it. She thought it was filmed and acted magnificently. Just about the only thing we agreed on was the costumes! Anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/2 "2012-11-26T13:30:12Z")
The critical consensus is that it deserves a “Gentleman’s C.” Only the presence of a lot of famous people who are usually in better movies earn it a thumbs up. > **[Anna Karenina](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/anna_karenina_2012)** > > Anna Karenina (Keira Knightley), the wife of a Russian imperial minister (Jude Law), creates a high-society scandal by an affair with Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a dashing cavalry officer in 19th-century St. Petersburg. Anna's husband,... ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/3 "2012-11-26T15:21:14Z")
I liked it a lot. I’m actually a fan of Keira Knightley, but this wasn’t one of my favorite performances from her, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson is completely out of his depth as Vronsky. But the rest of the cast is wonderful, especially Jude Law and Matthew MacFadyen. It’s also one of the most visually striking films I’ve seen this year. The dance scene during the big ball near the beginning, with the constantly moving camera tracking the changing of partners? Wow. It’s highly cinematic in a way that you don’t see in a lot of prestige costume dramas. The conceptualization didn’t bother me; I thought it served nicely as a metaphor for the closed, claustrophobic qualities of upper-class Russian society. And I liked how it eventually moved outside the theater for Levin’s scenes, illustrating his breaking away from those constraints. Overall, I admired its boldness and appreciated that they tried to do something completely different with the material. And for the most part, it worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/4 "2012-11-27T12:56:46Z")
Wow - 2 responses! This flick must be doing boffo box office! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/5 "2012-11-27T13:14:23Z")
**Dinsdale** , my date and I had the exact same experience (well, except for the talking old people). She loved it, and I thought it was a bunch of pretentious nonsense that just kept dragging on and on. (I suspect a lot of couples had mixed reactions.) I couldn’t find anyone to root for, so I rooted for the train. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/6 "2012-11-27T13:29:42Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Wow - 2 responses! This flick must be doing boffo box office! 😛 It was only in 66 theaters this past weekend… your normal NYC/LA/DC/Boston/Chicago/etc mix. Wide release is sometime in December, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/7 "2012-11-27T14:13:17Z")
When is it in 3D Imax? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/8 "2012-11-28T02:19:59Z")
The best part of the novel (and undoubtedly the flick) is when the tart throws herself under the train. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/9 "2012-11-28T14:22:02Z")
I’ve enjoyed the older versions on TCM. I’d like to see this just for the costumes and art direction. I’m a sucker for any costume dramas, historical movies. Such a refreshing change from the typical mens’s movies my SO insists I watch with him! A girl wearies of fart jokes, men in tights fighting crime, aliens and spaceships, and big 'splosions, all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/10 "2012-11-28T17:59:44Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > I’ve enjoyed the older versions on TCM. I’d like to see this just for the costumes and art direction. I’m a sucker for any costume dramas, historical movies. Such a refreshing change from the typical mens’s movies my SO insists I watch with him! A girl wearies of fart jokes, men in tights fighting crime, aliens and spaceships, and big 'splosions, all the time. I predict another split review. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/11 "2012-11-28T20:29:32Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Wow - 2 responses! This flick must be doing boffo box office! 😛 🙂 It’s not here yet! I’m not sure about seeing it – I do love a costume drama but the play conceit would probably get to me. And no matter the movie quality, talkers get shushed! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/12 "2012-11-28T20:49:30Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > …the play conceit would probably get to me. I found that whole aspect painfully _arty_ and annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/13 "2012-11-28T21:38:04Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > I found that whole aspect painfully _arty_ and annoying. Well, they wanted to throw in a bunch of explosions to contrast all that terrible, awful _art_, but alas, there wasn’t any room in the budget. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/14 "2012-11-28T21:48:29Z")
I loved it. I thought it was Moulin Rouge for grownups. Yes it is “arty”. What the hell is wrong with something being artistic? I didn’t much care for Vronsky. I don’t see why a woman would ruin her life over him. But otherwise the film, to me, was incredible. The sound alone was brilliant. I thought the pace of the film was very fast. (compared to the book it certainly must be) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/15 "2012-11-28T22:05:44Z")
I do love a costume drama but all the silk brocade in the world cannot compare with the annoyance that is Ms. Knightley’s jutting, clenching jaw. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/16 "2012-11-28T22:25:42Z")
> [@Rollo\_Tomasi](#): > > Well, they wanted to throw in a bunch of explosions to contrast all that terrible, awful _art_, but alas, there wasn’t any room in the budget. 's OK. I made do with the manglings. And yes. It _was_ awful art. Self-conscious and heavy-handed. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/17 "2013-01-13T13:41:49Z")
Saw it last night with the wife. We both didn’t care for it. It was poorly put together and difficult to follow. Good score, though, and beautifully shot. All the actors are trying their hardest and giving good performances, but either the script was bad or the editing was poorly done. Thumbs down from me and the wife. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/18 "2013-01-13T15:03:14Z")
The wife wants to see it; I don’t. I can’t stand Keira “Jaws” Knightly, and really don’t get the attraction. I also made the mistake of jokingly referring to it as a chick flick, and now am in the doghouse. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/19 "2013-01-14T13:54:40Z")
Tell her you don’t want to see it until you’ve both read the book. 😛 I have read the book, checked it out from the library,again again and again, and then again and then again. In all that time the end was never spoiled for me. Beautiful clenching jaw describes AK perfectly. Her old man bores her, society life bores her, fish out of water poor anna. If it’s artsy like the Russian Ark was, I would love to see it ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-agree-with-me-or-my-wife/642145/20 "2013-01-15T20:52:55Z")
I saw it a few weeks ago with my wife, and we both liked it, although I actually liked it a bit more than she did. I enjoyed the play-within-a-play aspect of the staging. I’m a big Keira Knightley fan and thought she was pretty good, although it wasn’t her best work (_Pride & Prejudice_, also directed by Joe Wright, is still my favorite film of hers). The supporting cast was all quite good. Beautiful cinematography and costumes, too.