Miranda (2002)

What makes it different from others?

Boring

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

I expected a romantic adventure with a dark twist but felt that this film missed out on making the most of a terrific cast. I felt the contrast between the British indie type film and the American fantasy film made it confusing to watch and unbelievable from a British perspective. There are some great moments between the well rounded characters and the friendship between the lads is fun to watch.Christina Ricci is good in this but I am unconvinced about how torn she feels between the Christian character and the Librarian. I also feel that the Frank character could have had a more bite as John Simm always excels at being pushed to extremes. Worth a watch.

This film is about a con woman whose life is complicated by the appearance of an obsessive librarian.I had great expectations when the initial animation was showing. Could it be a film like "Lola Rennt"? Well, no. The plot could have been promising, but the way it is told makes the film not too gripping. It gets boring at times, because of the slow pace. Fortunately, the film is made up for by the tension between Christina Ricci and John Simm. John Simm's portrayal of an innocent man who becomes obsessive about Christina Ricci is remarkable. Christina Ricci is also great in her portrayals of a cold and passionless con woman, a manipulative woman and vulnerable victim at the end. In short, it is a little slow but still watchable.

I loved this movie for a few reasons, but mainly because of John Simm. Please do more movies, John! He plays the librarian, Frank, who has to be the sweetest hetero male I have ever seen. He melts your heart. He is teamed with some real pros in Christina Ricci, Kyle MacLachlan, and John Hurt. And the actor with the funny name who plays Frank's friend is a joy to watch, too. This is good popcorn, escapist fun with its central sweet love story and quirky characters and an outrageous con. John Simm has done a lot of British TV--those lucky blokes. As for other movies, I loved the magic between Christina Ricci and Johnny Depp in "The Man Who Cried," a more serious, but very good movie.

"Miranda", misbilled as a romance/thriller (no thrills in this flick), is really a dark romantic comedy about an enigmatic woman, Miranda (Ricci), who beguiles a male librarian (Simm) with her haunting beauty and mysterious ways. Long on style and short on story, this film spends most of its time with the title character, of course, which Ricci plays well. The film crashes, however, on story as Miranda is really a pain in the a** and not something we, the audience, are inclined to wish on the more likeable Simm character. Meanwhile, bits and pieces of a story are doled out with the dots never really connected at the end making anything beyond the romantic quest little more than window dressing. Recommended for Ricci fans or dark comedy weirdos. (B-)