W.E. - 4 stars out of 10

W.E. - 4 stars out of 10

"W.E." surprised me twice.  First, I was surprised that something whose previews looked so promising (I even predicted several Oscar nominations) could be so dull.  But then, I was even more surprised that the paralleling stories redeemed this film in the end.  At first, I felt as if it was "The Hours" gone completely wrong, with its constant shifting between stories separated by 60 years and Phillip Glass-like soundtrack giving it a copycat feel; however, the fact that they didn't draw direct, obvious parallels between the two women's lives kept it from feeling TOO much like "The Hours."  The parallels seem more like happenstance as they aren't presented chronologically with the other story, leaving the audience to connect the things that happened early in one character's life with ones that happened later in the other character's life.  That being said, Madonna's directorial feature is still a partial disaster.  The first half of this film wanders around in circles and I was completely lost.  I'm pretty sure that the cast, director, and writers were completely lost, as well.  The story of Wallis Simpson and King Edward is fascinating and I would have much rather seen a biopic than this creative approach.  The actors are alright, but there were really only two reasons to watch this film:  1. It is a really interesting supplement to "The King's Speech" as these stories align, and 2. The letter reading scene is magic.  That scene truly makes this film completely worth watching, pulling the stories together by intertwining Wallis Simpson's hardships that she endured for her love with Wally Winthrop's challenging decision in modern times.  It is debatable whether the horrid first 1/2-hour of the film is worth watching in order to have the letter reading scene be so poignant, but I'd probably give this film another shot with a low expectation.