Captain Corelli's Mandolin

REVIEW
Attempting to evoke the romanticism of those glorious morale boosters made during WWII, Captain Corelli's Mandolin is a glossy hybrid of war and romance that fails to ignite even the smallest of sparks. Long, lifeless and devoid of any romantic chemistry between its two stars, director Madden's follow-up to Shakespeare in Love features Cage (sporting Italian accent and trying his best) as a captain whose company has taken over a small Greek seaside village. There he falls for the beautiful Pelagia (Cruz), a wife whose husband is away fighting. Of course, romance blossoms, thanks in part to Pelagia's father (Hurt), who doesn't seem to mind her daughter fraternizing with the enemy. The idea of Italians and Greeks getting along side by side during wartime worked quite well in Mediterreaneo, but here it just seems contrived -- heated melodrama to entertain the proletariat.