The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond

The effort to create an impressive drama is transparent from the first minutes, the upper-class atmosphere is beautified in a way that is perhaps a bit forced, and everything here is good, yet at the same time too shallow and unoffending. At some points I can understand the characters, but in the next they act in line with an overly desirous script. And that half-heartedness also applies to the ensemble cast: Bryce Dallas Howard gives it her all, but the script occasionally gives her the obviously oerous task of 'lighting up the whole room", and likewise Chris Evans manages some things well, but in purely dramatic roles, he sometimes shows a slight stiffness. In short, a conflicted film in every aspect, and consequently an easily forgettable one. (28.03.2011)