Directed by Gillian Armstrong (1994's "Little Women") and based on the 1988 novel by Peter Carey, "Oscar and Lucinda" is at times compelling, but at others appears to be an awkwardly condensed version of the novel. While I haven't read the original story, the research I've done on the movie and the novel indicates that some events have been changed (which is usually the case in such adaptions) and much of the novel's early events have been severely truncated. Even without prior knowledge of the plot, the film's beginning feels rushed and as if significant pieces have been left out.
That's somewhat alleviated by the voice over narration (from actor Geoffrey Rush of "Shine" fame) mouthed by the descendant of a character from the plot. While I've never been a fan of that device, it was used in the Carey's novel and it's not too obtrusive to be obnoxious. Once past the exposition-like beginning, the film does finally settle down into a more orderly fashion and gets much better.
Much of that is due to the fine performances delivered by the lead actors. Although we never learn much about the main characters they play (part of what was presumably jettisoned from the novel), both Cate Blanchett (1996's "Paradise Road") and Ralph Fiennes (1996's "The English Patient" and 1993's "Schindler's List") embody them to such a degree that it's okay that we don't need to know much about them. Everything needed to be known is played out on their sleeves and the movie, like the novel, simply describes them as compulsive and obsessive gamblers. Likewise, but in a role reversal for the plot's temporal setting, Lucinda is the strong, dominant character while Oscar plays the passive and ultimately submissive man. Blanchett is quite good playing the young, but outwardly headstrong and liberal woman who finds herself at odds with the world in which she's stuck, and is entirely believable in her role.
Fiennes adds yet another diverse character to his portfolio of playing clearly distinguishable characters. While his creation here isn't entirely likeable (although come to think of it, many of his characters have been that way), he's so completely different from the Nazi soldier he portrayed in "Schindler's List" that it's amazing to think that the same actor depicted both characters. Though in his mid-thirties, Fiennes somewhat manages to capture Oscar's young, awkward age and innocence, and that characteristic allows the audience to sympathize with his character despite his diffident attributes and later discovered flaws.
Director Armstrong employs some nice imagery, including attention-grabbing shots of various churches being moved across locales. While she does include scenes from the novel such as the traditional shattering of the Prince Rupert Drop (a small glass figurine in the shape of a drop), it's doubtful most viewers will immediately make the symbolic connection of that to the later shattering of Oscar and Lucinda's glass cathedral. It is a welcome cinematic touch of tying the movie's beginning and end together, however, and is something rarely seen in today's films.
The awkwardly paced beginning that zips through events and time, however, never allows the viewer to comfortably adjust to the plot or theme of the movie. The novel, after all, is about the efforts of the British Empire to thrust her way upon the world (the glass church being delivered into the untamed wilderness) and of the questioning of that period's religious and cultural beliefs. We're quickly thrown into all of that, and it takes a while to absorb what's going on and then get in step with the plot. Once that happens, everything "clicks," and while it's still very slow moving until much later, at least the movie and the audience come to a mutual standing.
Those familiar with the novel may be disappointed by this film's truncated version of the story, but others looking for a more mature plot (ie. no explosions or major action scenes) should be somewhat satisfied with the film. The plot does pick up and get more interesting as the story develops, and the last third is much better than what came before it. Yet I never really felt connected to the story, all of which may stem from the superficial characterizations, or the awkward beginning.
Luckily the performances from Fiennes and Blanchett hold one's interest until the story catches up in the film's latter half. With appropriate period costuming supplied by Janet Patterson, and marvelous lens work from cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson, the film always has a captivating look to it and is mostly mesmerizing to watch. An interesting period piece, "Oscar and Lucinda" should please fans of the "costume drama" genre, but with a better constructed adaption of the original novel, the film could have been much better. As it stands, we give it a 6 out of 10.