Anna Karenina (2012 Joe Wright)

Anna Karenina is an incredibly frustrating film. The first forty-five minutes - my mouth was just hanging open. I mean it's amazing. It's sort of like we're in a theatre, but the scenes keep changing in an incredibly interesting and fluid way - occasional musicians walk in as their instruments are heard in the score, there's a wonderful momentum, like Magnolia, it's funny - MacFadyen gives a wonderful, funny performance - everything looks amazing. It's almost like an opera.

So what happens? It becomes boring. There's a sub-plot going on about Domhnall Gleeson's love for Alicia Vikander, nicely resolved in a scene involving blocks with letters on them, but their story peters out. "I just realised something" he says to her at the end, and she says "What was it?" and he doesn't reply, which is not really maddening or anything. And there are still some lovely flourishes, like the stagebound horse race, and when Jude Law tears up the letter from his wife and throws the pieces in the air and then the whole theatre it's raining torn up bits of paper - but - and here's another thing - the Gleeson scenes are all on location, real snow and grass and country houses - and you suddenly think, 'well how does all this artificial stage stuff actually fit in?' and it almost blows the magic of it.

The train imagery throughout, like a foreshadowing, is interesting, but the problem actually is the story, in which case the problem is the novel. Or to put it another way, why did Joe Wright wish to make this story? Tom Stoppard wrote the adaptation. Wright said that Anna was 'both terrible and wonderful'. But I'm sorry to say that we both found it boring. And in fact, she's also quite annoying. Which after such an amazing beginning is terrible. I mean, you can argue that Daisy Miller is annoying, but you still feel for her, but after a while you don't feel for Anna, who brings it all upon herself.

So - the good bits. Seamus McGarvey's photography and Sarah Greenwood's production design, they're both brilliant. So is Dario Marienelli's score - no problem about that. Nor Melanie Oliver's editing - Wilder! - that dance scene. And, like last time, I kept having weird Last Year at Marienbad flashes. As to the acting, great performances from La Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Gleeson, Kelly Macdonald, Olivia Williams, Alexandra Roach, Holliday Grainger, Ruth Wilson, Michelle Dockery, Emily Watson, Emerald Fennell and Steve Evets (and, fleetingly, in fact annoyingly - why's she there at all? - Vicky McClure).

Also - costumes and make up - Jacqueline Durran (won Oscar) and Ivana Primorac. Knightley looks stunning.