Can I please have those two hours of my life back?This movie was really much ado about nothing. So they had an affair; a common occurrence among the rich aristocrats of the time. Yes, her being the friend of his wife made it worse but the father and daughter had their own affair going on. One might ask what kind but it seemed rather incestuous, even if only emotionally.I found the young wife so annoying. She's so one dimensional; like her father = yawn. Her constant suspicions and then when she does confront and learn the truth, she is over it in a heartbeat all because he writes her one love letter. *Rolling my eyes*And they made such a big deal about when and where to sleep together it was ludicrous... especially when the hostess had hand picked them to stay over an extra day to enable them the time alone together (as she was having her own fun).For them to go out of their way to find an Inn was so far fetched. Those old mansions were known to have back doors and hidden doors... and so if they wanted to rendezvous they simply would have on site which was much less risky than going off to an Inn risking being seen, etc...Plus to come home so late, missing dinner even made it much more obvious.In those days when they had those parties every body was sleeping with everyone else and it wasn't a big deal. Sure it was a big deal to the odd partner but they did it discreetly enough that no one knew to see it, it was behind doors. But this movie took such a simple act of them sleeping together once in five years and dragging it out into some production it was annoying.Then the rest of the movie which was very long was just the wife being suspicious and upset, etc... and the golden bowl being delivered and the store owner telling her these details about seeing her husband there with her friend and that they seemed married. Pleeeease = Such a stretch!In those days, a store owner would know that discretion was paramount to good business and there's just no way he would go into someone's house, unattended and start studying photos and collectibles to even see those pictures to identify them as a couple and then to share that info was also ludicrous.So the story was flawed and not at all an accurate depiction of the times and I found it unbearable and I kept checking the clock and I almost ditched it when there was an hour left but I thought perhaps it would improve, maybe the affair would get steamy, or something interesting would happen.But nothing interesting ever did happen. It's a boring movie. It's a bad movie. Spend two hours of your life watching something worthwhile.

Having loved the splendid 'Howard's End' and the delightful 'A Room With A View', I always look forward to a Merchant Ivory film no matter what the outcome. 'The Golden Bowl' does not reach the level of the aforementioned two films but it still was a good watch. Ivory does successfully manage to create a feel of that time period. The sets and costumes look quite authentic. Through subtle references one can see how James Ivory has been influenced by classic movies. The story is about complex relationships, between a father and his daughter, between two former lovers and between husbands and wives. The characters are very well etched and layered and it is the mystery of these characters that has intrigued me the most. How long has Verver known about Amerigo and Charlotte's relationship? Since when has Maggie known? Did Charlotte have any feelings at all for Verver? The film does move at a slightly tedious pace but it picks up when Maggie starts suspecting the relationship between Charlotte and Amerigo. Northam's Amerigo takes some getting used to. I found him funny initially but once one is passed that he's quite good and terrific in the scenes where he's restrained. Uma Thurman sizzles. Charlotte may come across as a temptress at times but Thurman portrays her vulnerability and despair with gusto. Kate Beckinsale is equally fantastic. Hats off to Nick Nolte for a studied and subtle performance of a father who has to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to save his daughter's marriage. Angelica Huston makes herself noticeable. 'The Golden Bowl' may not be the best of Ivory Merchant but it's still an interesting period drama a fascinating study of characters.

SPOILERS THROUGH:The first half of The Golden Bowl was, for me, almost unwatchable. As mentioned by many, the formal stilted dialog was really really tough to enjoy and since I didn't know a whole lot about the plot(haven't read the book) much of the movie made no sense. This is a very hard movie to follow and I was also put off by the lack of emotion in the performances. At times it seemed like the performers were just reading dialog and I really did almost turn it off.But the thing is, the second half of the movie is really interesting. It's like the movie and performers come into their own and all of a sudden, I got sucked into the whole story. By the time the end rolled around I was riveted. And the performers went from stiff and stilted to really really moving.So I asked myself what in the world do I rate a movie like this? It really is a tough movie to decide if I liked or not when the first half was absolutely awful and the second half was not just good, but riveting. So finally I gave it a 7. It's really interesting in that I started off thinking all the performers were miscast and ended thinking they were all really good. This really is a movie that takes it's time in sucking you in.I do wish it had been a little easier to follow( movie seems to assume that it's audience is familiar with the book) and some of the stilted dialog had been dropped. I understand that the period it was taking place in contributes to the dialog but it did make it very hard to become involved in the story and as mentioned, the performers came off initially as stiff and just not very comfortable, though that changed greatly as the story went on.Beckinsale and Nolte were, in my opinion, the best and all the characters stay with you after. Uma Thurman, while originally seeming the most miscast, winds up delivering with one of the most powerful scenes in the film at the end and that one scene alone makes her character extremely memorable.The landscapes were also very lovely and the story, in spite of the difficulty in following it, was compelling and the movie really does linger with you in a way that one might not expect, particularly during the first half. In my opinion, the ending was also way to rushed but since I haven't read the book I have no idea if the movie was just following the book. I'd see this again and will recommend it to fellow moviegoers I know. At the same time, if someone loses patience with the story and turns it off midstream I can understand that too because a lot of patience is needed in the beginning. It's definitely worth seeing though especially for period movie lovers. My vote's 7 of 10.

Despite the fact that I'm normally not a fan of period movies, I've seen two in a row now. The first one was "The Remains of the Day", the second one this "The Golden Bowl. Much to my surprise I must say that I liked both, although there was a big difference in the two. While the first one was very compelling and sometimes close to perfection, I didn't always have that feeling with this movie.In the early 1900's Adam Verver, an American billionaire, lives with his daughter in London. When she is introduced to the Italian Prince Amerigo, it doesn't take long before they get married. But the prince has a secret. He has a relationship with Charlotte Stant, Maggie Verver's best friend. Because Maggie doesn't know that Amerigo and Charlotte know each other, she sees no harm in introducing her to her widowed father and therefor allowing her to become a member of the family once she marries him. Charlotte is very happy with this match of course, because all she wants is to be close to Prince Amerigo. All this leads to one big masquerade full of deception, lies and unhappiness which can't be revealed...Despite the fact that I'm normally not a fan of this kind of movies, I must say that this one was OK. Especially the acting made it all worth watching. Thanks to the famous, but also well-acting cast which includes people like Kate Beckinsale, Anjelica Huston, Nick Nolte and Uma Thurman, I was able to enjoy this movie. Does that mean that it is a perfect movie? No, not exactly. The story for instances sometimes lacks a bit in power, making it not always very interesting to keep watching this movie for more than two hours. But on the other hand I must also say that it all could have been a lot worse. The story was perhaps not exceptional, but it sure was decent enough.In the end I don't think this is a movie that will appeal to the average fan of period movies. First of all is the time period not exactly correct. I believe that those movies situated in the early 19th century are a lot more popular than one which is situated in the early 1900's. But since I'm not such an average fan and because I've always been interested in the time period 1900 - 1950, this was quite interesting for me. It's only too bad that the story wasn't a bit more exceptional. Now I give this movie a rating in between 7/10 and 7.5/10, mostly because of the fine performances.