From the initial scene as she rises before the camera, Emily Watson takes possession of this film and brings it life, heart, and soul. She creates here a character of depth and realism so profound that one can never take there eyes off of her. Ms. Watson is acknowledged to be an actor's actor and that is never more apparent and clearly proved than among this outstanding cast. Her stunning artistic gift and screen presence causes her to tower over her fellow actors and she is able to reach out to them and help them deliver performances that would otherwise never have graced this film. Watson also reveals heretofore unrevealed talents as a singer who can deliver a song in a way that is both riveting and heart breaking. The camera indeed loves Emily Watson as much as audiences and in this film she once again presents viewers with a priceless gift of a performance, ripping bare her soul to put all her being into the character she assays. What she achieves here would stand alone as the performance of a lifetime, but Emily Watson does it in film after film, whether as star or in a featured part, it is she that stands out and captures us forever with her magnetic genius, graceful beauty, and profound spirituality.

Cradle Will Rock is a drama that chronicles the process and events that surrounded the production of the original 1937 musical The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein.It has an ensemble cast that includes Hank Azaria,Ruben Blades,Joan Cusack,John Cusack,Cary Elwes,Angus Macfadyen, Bill Murray,Vanessa Redgrave,Susan Sarandon,John Turturro and Emily Watson .Tim Robbins,in his third film as director, adapts history to create this fictionalized account of the original production, bringing in other stories of the time to produce this commentary on the role of art and power in the 1930s, particularly amidst the struggles of the 1930s labor movement and the corresponding appeal of socialism and communism among many intellectuals and working class people of that time.Orson Welles and John Houseman are working with Marc Bliztstein to stage the latter's leftist musical "The Cradle Will Rock" for the WPA-funded Federal Theater Project. After Congress cuts funding for the embattled Federal Theater over the perceived leftist slant of their presentations, the project is canceled on the day of its premier. Welles and his cast respond by marching 21 blocks from the theater where the show was to open to another venue where, in deference to Actors Equity regulations, they perform the entire show from the audience. A member of Welles' cast, Aldo Silvano, is a dedicated actor from Italy who is trying to resolve his attitudes about his family, who loyally support Mussolini, to Silvano's disgust. Meanwhile, El Duce's former mistress, Margherita Sarfatti, is consorting with industrial tycoon Gray Mathers,whose wife, Contesse LaGrange is a friend and supporter of Welles' project. Elsewhere, Nelson Rockefeller has hired ex-patriot Mexican artist Diego Rivera to create a mural for his projected Rockefeller Center, but the two are soon locking horns over their different views on art, politics and the work at hand. And a ventriloquist fallen on hard times, Tommy Crickshaw, finds himself trying to teach both comedy and speaking without lip movements to a pair of would-be performers at a WPA-backed vaudeville house. Art and politics collide in Tim Robbins' ambitious but not entirely successful effort to recreate a unique moment in American culture circa 1937.It presents good entertainment with superior acting performances and a stellar cast.Also,as a mixture of drama, humor and history, a mélange of seriousness and slapstick, real people and imagined characters, it definitely stands out.

...a really smart, well-constructed script by Tim Robbins (who also directed) that links the Depression 30s, performing arts, visual arts, commerce, politics, business and the culture (whew!). Robert Altman would be proud at how all these strands came together with great force. The performances are great (Redgrave, the Cusacks, Bill Murray, Cary Elwes, McFadyen, Blades, Cherry Jones, Azaria) all lovingly presented. The art direction and cinematography are impeccable, and the re-creation of the first "performance" of "the runaway opera" is astonishingly accurate - at least in line with the way Houseman tells it in his memoir, "Run-Through." CRADLE's blend of real and fictional characters and historical fact and fiction makes for a piece of stirring, funny, thoughtful storytelling of an important moment in American history.

This is one of the best films I've ever seen. It has the idealism of Casablanca mixed with a much needed capitalist critique, among many other things.If you're a political activist--or just a citizen who is worried about the direction the world is going in--this movie is a must-see. You may agree or disagree with the political perspective, but you must see it anyway. Try to look upon the characters as allegorical. People who criticize them as 'cardboard figures' are missing the point, I think. Robbins is trying to distill reality into a 2 hour film. In my opinion, it is not far from the truth to say that there is a battle in the world between people who love wealth and power and people who love truth and justice.It's one of the rare cases of a film that is strongly critical of the establishment. Indeed, it surprises me that Tim Robbins is able to get any work at all after doing a film like this. But maybe Hollywood, since it is sort of a bastion of liberalism, is willing to put up with Tim's 'cute politics'.But it's not just a political film, it also has artistic depth and the acting is quite good. You'll laugh. You'll cry. Etc. ;) Suspend your disbelief and your joy will know no bounds...