Captain Corelli's Mandolin-- why in the hell would I see that movie? Well, our Drama section of reviews is pretty low. Also, I was bored on a Friday with nothing to do (surprise!). The director was the same guy who did Shakespeare in Love, which I liked. The previews had pretty scenery.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin takes place on an island in Greece where Penelope Cruz is engaged to be married to Christian Bale. Unfortunately, he decides to join the army to fight against the Italians. While he is away, Italians take over the island-- including Nicolas Cage. Can Penelope Cruz avoid Nicolas Cage's charm?

The scenery in this movie is really very beautiful. The acting is pretty good, although Nicolas Cage sounds a bit silly when he says some of his lines.

The pacing of this movie is a bit odd. The beginning is rather slow, a whole lot doesn't happen in the middle, and the end is way too long.

Still, it's better than a lot of movies I have seen recently. The pace picks up when there actually is a threat from World War II, instead of other parts of the film when the Italians soldiers sing opera and run around on the beach.

I give it *** out of ****