Short review: give it a chance, it will eventually enchant you. But it is not an easy process

Longer review: did a lot of reviews for IMDb and cannot easily recall a film that tries so hard, has such a great cast, great cinematography, yet is constantly shooting itself in the foot.

The script is ... problematic. Parts of it seem like they were written by a fifth grader. Lots of "is this really happening?" type dialog, which generally you do not ever hear in a film BECAUSE THE ONLY ONE QUALIFIED TO ASK THAT QUESTION IS THE AUDIENCE, NOT THE SCREENWRITER.

Duhhhh

Lots of miscasting. The great Crowe, who could play a phonebook if he had to, is OK as a demon. Will Smith as the devil is another matter entirely. John Hurt has to deliver dialog so weak he must have been wincing inside. Even the beautiful Jennifer Connelly seems to have been lost in the production and is relegated to astonished glances.

Farell, no slouch as an actor, has a gift for getting lost in a role and that really helps him here. He does an OK job.

The two actors who steal their scenes are Jessica Brown Findlay, who is supposed to portray a young woman whose inner beauty lights up every scene she is in .... AND SHE DOES.

And whatever animal they borrowed from the Animal Actors Union to play the magic horse does a great job too. Hopefully they gave him extra carrots as a reward.

You really need to leave critical judgement behind if you are planning on watching this. This is for example a scene at the 1:20 mark where the continuity is so out of sync with the screenplay that Farrell has to break about 75 once sacred "film rules" and deliver a short speech which is 100% backstory, just to make sense of what is happening. Ouch!

And here is a Special Bonus for the lucky IMDb reader who got this far: if you liked this film at all, here are two films that handle the same theme in a slightly different way, and you MUST SEE THEM (no, I don't get a commission if you do). Each rates a perfect "10":

1. The original HERE COMES MR JORDAN with Robert Montgomery

2. The more recent I ORIGINS

This is not an important movie. This is not a "smart" movie. This movie has a few technical problems, and leaves a lot up to personal interpretation . The script is a bit mysterious ( at best) and incoherent ( at worst). I loved this film. I think it's either a love it , or hate it situation here. I loved this film, because of the main characters, the sweet moments of tenderness, and the innocence about it. It's a fairy tale for adults. If you're the pragmatic type, this might not be a great movie for you. Although I am, and I was able, or allowed myself to get lost in it. I loved that there was some magic in it. I loved Beverly. I don't like many actresses these days, and I just thought she was absolutely beautiful to look at, and her personality is something you just don't see on screen these days. We either get the damsels in distress or the smart asses, never just a Really cool woman. And I believed their love story. It was a nice dream. . A nice break. To just let yourself see things like a child, and enjoy.

Peter Lake (Colin Farrell) is still a young man in the modern world. In 1895, Peter arrives in NYC as a baby but his parents are forced back because of sickness. They leave him behind in a toy boat. In 1916, Peter steals a magical horse from Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe). He's on the run from Pearly breaking into an empty mansion except Beverly Penn (Jessica Brown Findlay) is actually home. She's supposedly dying and doesn't leave the mansion. There is magic underneath the real world and Pearly is the evil master of New York. Peter rescues Beverly from Pearly and escapes to the Lake of the Coheeries where Bev's father Isaac (William Hurt) is the protector.

I don't know anything about the book. The movie is slow. Mostly it is tired. It feels labored. Even Farrell can't inject any energy into this. Bev is a dying girl and that sucks even more energy from the film. It's obvious that there is a grand world that this movie is trying to construct. It's just built haphazardly on an unstable foundation. As for the narrative, it tries to work as a romance but there is limited chemistry between the leads. Just when things are moving, the movie brings in a new leading lady Jennifer Connelly as Virginia Gamely. As a magical fantasy, it is a confused mess. I couldn't really tell what the powers or the magic are about. As an adventure, it struggles to get off the ground. There isn't enough pace to get going. Writer/producer Akiva Goldsman tries his hands in directing but this is too big for him. The ambition is great, but the result is a failure. It does have some good actors and what a role for Will Smith!