Very well executed

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Advice for viewers. Best is to relax into an aesthetic quiet movie, then you might appreciate the beautiful slow intro, soundtrack and landscape scenery. The additional cuts to some spy and prison scenes could have spiced it up, but they were at times nerve-wrecking, because the went back and forth too often without much new insights.The best acting in my eyes came from Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abderahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi (sorry, I had to put this out there, but I am not joking - this is Alexander Siddig's full name ;-) This is the guy who not only did play a doctor here, but also in the Startrek series Deep Space 9, and he matured to convincingly display a faithful and ethical person who has poise.Vikander's acting was understandably two-faced, because she had to play a materialistic non-charming scientist who turns romance - and this on top of her fragile figure which additionally made it hard for her to really own this role. The reason why she in my opinion will be cast many more times is not only because she played in Tomb Raider and is pretty, but because she has a quite neutral face which allows for nearly any character to throw her way - young enough to be sensual but also has a focus which doesn't corner her in the realm of sensuality. However - somehow I was not fully sucked into her role to make me feel the love - it rather reminded me of some really beautiful women whom for some reason I had no magical connection with.As for the directing: The movie showed that Wim Wenders comes from the 70s area where movies were slow and his age may contribute for him to continue on that pace. This is ok in some of his movies and in this one it was half a blessing and half a curse. The negative side of it being that the story did not really unfold for me fully but went back and forth much too often without a reason for it - and I don't ask for clear endings as you might think, but for at least some contemplative message which I can take away and which will give the slow movie a deeper meaning, just as it was in George Clooneys Syriana (in which Alexander Siddig btw also played).It also dawned upon me that having just completed the (heart-wearming) documentary about pope Francis, the stereotyped display of Muslims as terrorists may come from a Christian and Anti-Islamic perspective. If I was a director I would have not put oil onto the xenophobic flames of of the contemporary fear of- and therewith hate for refugees. Nevertheless - this might be part of the original book and I appreciate that a potential dull story was spiced up with some spy stuff.All in all I enjoyed watching the movie while it lasted, but left the cinema a bit oblivious.

I am shocked at the negative feedback to this film. It is by no means perfect, but I was moved and genuinely enjoyed it. The Good: -The acting is fantastic from every performer. -the MUSIC -it's beautiful to look at James's story I felt to be very interesting and compelling.The Negative: -I feel they took too long introducing the characters and letting their love form. On one hand, yes it's nice to not see feelings rushed and force you to try and care. But on the other hand the film isn't about them falling in love, it's about their passions for their respective causes, and that bringing out the best in both of them by seeing it through their love. -Danny's story wasn't near as interesting to me as James's was. Not because of the performances, but I believe the script could have used some tightening, and focused more on the purpose of her expedition instead of her not being able to focus on it because he hasn't replied to her.Overall:Solid film, I think it is a bit too long but at the same time I didn't expect it to end, it is very sad and makes you think for awhile after. It's honestly in my opinion, a great film to watch by yourself and just invest yourself into.7/10

MI-6 Agent James Moore (James McAvoy) meets Oceanographer Danielle (Alicia Vikander) on a beach and they fall in love. Both want to save the world in their own way as both feel everything is connected and it's up to us to get involved to help save the world. The chemistry between them was very good and I know this because I wanted them to work. (You're too easy)It's a love story, but we find that James Moore is in a ISIS prison in Somalia and see he survives mostly due to his memories of Danielle; and she does the same finding out that for once in her life she is lonely and she tries to contact James Moore via text but since he is in prison, he cannot respond. It's a love story, but there doesn't seem to be any resolution in sight. He is taken to an isolated island where ISIS cannot be seen by military planes. However, it seems that James Moore has the perfect solution for that, but does he save himself? And again his memories center on Danielle. Meanwhile Danielle is in a submersible to explore life in the ocean and then things go wrong down there and I am not sure they save themselves, and, of course, her thought are of James Moore still. Hey, it's a love story...... ..It's a very slow love story, and they are thousands of miles apart, but seem to connect with their thoughts. But is that enough for we the viewers? Probably not as there was a beginning, a middle and we are not sure there was a proper ending. (Do we have to make up an ending again?) The music sometimes drowned out dialogues and because of accents conversations were not always clear. James McAvoy probably played his best role ever and is in the same class as Jude Law who he looked like at times. I had to check the credit list to make sure he was James McAvoy, but he did a great job regardless of who he looked like. But, come on: if you are going to have actors with accents, have them talk slower and not into their chests. The cinematography was absolutely stunning with scenes rarely seen in other movies. Alicia Vikander is truly beautiful and it was easy to fall in love with her. Yes, this is a love story and we wanted more, but nothing came. Again, we are not sure about the ending. Notable: Alexander Suddig as Dr. Shadid who helped prisoner James Moore as much as he could and yet James Moore says of him, "you help people, but live with killers." Dr. Shadid knows he is in a dark place. It's a love story, but there were too many scenes of James Moore in that cell with barely any light and we had to watch his suffering and, we too, suffered because of that. We enjoyed the scenes when both James Moore and Danielle were in them, but again there was no definitive ending. (Here we go again) (7/10)Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Humor: Some, very little. Language: No. Rating: B

I disagree with some of the harsh comments here. This is a beautifully made film, subtle in execution but touching all the same and it makes me think of the more important issues in life: love, life, death, life after death. Shame that it did not receive the proper recognition and box office that it deserves