What I think is a bit strange is that in the earlier reviews there was a lot of praises for James' performance, and suddenly, when the film magically turned into a "Tolstoy biopic" and all about Mirren and Plummer, James started being ignored, even mocked. Especially by the NY papers and magazines, which maybe think that classically trained actors and films which evoke a certain air of European period pieces aren't trendy and hype enough for their "sophisticated" and modernist tastes. James never got any love from the NY press, and I doubted he would get it now. Maybe because he's still young and so amazingly talented, and not a 80-year old actor and a 70-year old actress (who at least deserve some respect, and, well, they are the ones playing the "famous" and "interesting" characters). It's like they are too cynical to believe James' talent, and James isn't method and far from being cynical himself, in his acting. I don't see this situation changing anytime soon, because I can't see James changing his acting style to accommodate the views of some NY critics.

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