To the Lighthouse

When watching this 115 minute movie, one can see why it was made for television rather than a big screen release. It starts off slow and goes on and on without much to keep the viewer interested. The title is deceiving - except for a few screen shots in the beginning of the movie, the lighthouse does not exist. The plot is old and un-original - taking place in rural coastal England in 1912, it is a story about a family and its problems as it vacations near a lighthouse. This film has two strengths - Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet, Othello, Wild Wild West) plays a young graduate student vacationing with the family, and this offers a glimpse into his younger acting before his notable performances in Shakespearean movies. Secondly, the filming locations were beautiful and were really the only other thing that kept me interested. All in all, it is slow, long, and boring, but not the worst movie I've ever seen.