Watching Kevin Reynolds's "Tristan and Isolde" I was wondering why on earth was this film entitled just that. They could entitle it for example "Alan and Caitlin" and nobody would know the difference. There lack all the magic elements we know from the literary version of the tale. There is no dragon slayed by Tristan, no golden hair brought by swallows to King Mark, no love potion drunk by Tristan and Isolde on their way to Cornwall. And the worst thing is that there is no passion. You cannot see any chemistry between James Franco and Sophia Myles. You just have to believe in their love, because they can't show it. There is a strange lack of balance between the "romantic" part of the movie, which is very uninteresting, and the "political" part, which is more colourful and engaging. The best things about the movie are scenery and cinematography. It is not a bad film. But it could (and should) be much, much better.
