Truly Madly Deeply (1990) User Reviews

Didn't come off as "hokey"...

[Celebrian65 · 8/10 · 28 May 2005]

A man who comes back as a ghost to assist his grieving wife... it could have been really cheesy, but Rickman and Stevenson pull it off! I loved this movie and I'm not normally into romantic comedies. The comedy is subtle and doesn't dominate the movie. If you're looking for a happy-go-lucky, laugh a minute movie, look elsewhere. Stevenson's tears and grief are very realistic and you truly feel her desperation. Yet, though there is sadness and even the ending is bitter-sweet, you don't leave feeling depressed and there ARE laughs along the way. Rickman and Stevenson's singing scene is tremendous and a must see for all Rickman fans! It is strange to call a movie about a ghost "realistic", but it is. The relationship between the two leads is very realistic and the chemistry is incredible. All in all a charming little flick to watch when you feel like cuddling up and watching a good love story.

Tears, snot, pain - what a wonderful film

[Megabuck · 8/10 · 3 September 1999]

Having spent some time in the States, I got to watch the brilliant review programme starring Siskel and Ebert (rest in peace, Gene). I've now got a rather dated copy of Ebert's book, and his review of this film matches my opinions perfectly.

Comparisons of this film and Ghost are fatuous, since the similarities are only superficial. Yes, the main protagonists are a couple where the man dies and returns as a ghost, but that's about it. Truly, madly, deeply is wonderfully involving - it has that indefinable something that makes you care about the characters, and pray that the film makers won't cop out and go for a stupid ending.

Fear not, they remain true to the rest of the film. If you only know Alan Rickman from his 'baddie' roles in films like Die Hard and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, this will come as a complete surprise. He plays the recently departed Jamie, who must hang around as a ghost until Nina (Juliet Stevenson) finds happiness. The film is slow-paced, but that doesn't matter - it's a wonderful character study.

Of course, it's helped by having Nina played by the utterly wonderful Juliet Stevenson. In the early scenes, when she's grieving for Jamie, her pain is almost palpable. Forget Demi Moore-style teary-eyed, looking ever more beautiful grieving - this is the real thing, floods of tears, almost incoherent, looking like crap, snot-nosed AGONY. The transformation when she realises that Jamie is still around is a joy to watch - as is most of the film, actually.

'Ghost' for adults? In a way, but I think it's comparing apples and oranges. It's a masterful character study, with a great script and a cast on top of their form. Well worth watching.

Unusual and moving movie

[George-441 · 8/10 · 22 April 2005]

This one of the most memorable and touching movies about love and loss that I have ever seen. It does fall a little into the trite towards the end with some of the side plots, but the essential message is there from beginning to end. There are people who you love who leave deep and indelible pieces in you, but the essence of living is painful and individual.

The characters are well drawn and the performances by Rickman and Stevenson are nothing short of inspired. Rickman in particular has an ambivalent character- he has the attraction of a unique and fleeting genius, juxtaposed with the temperamental flightiness of a hot house flower. Stevenson's dealings with this paradox of a person and her relationship, forms the driving force behind her quest for meaning.

There are moments of humor and extreme poignancy in this movie. The use of Bach and the poetry of Pablo Neruda is both organic and brilliant.

The trite parts are largely collateral. The movie rather than being "PC" is idiosyncratic with unusual characters.

touching portrait of a real relationship

[jennifer-137 · 6 April 2003]

This is a beautiful little movie. Juliet Stevenson (as Nina) plays one of the most authentic female leads I've ever seen: She bawls full-out, complete with fluids; she looks like a man in bad lighting; she's passive aggressive and irritable and loveable and likeable and real. Likewise, Alan Rickman's character, Jamie, is peevish, like all of us, self-centered, like all of us, but beautiful and unique and again, real. Unlike the schmaltz we're fed here in the states, where dialogue consists of rehearsed speeches (think Jerry Maguire) and love seems skin-deep, this is a couple that seems not only to love each other but to genuinely like each other; a couple that has their own language, as long-term couples do (and it's not translated, which is so refreshing), a couple that can be silly with each other and irritated with each other within minutes; that can have spats that are not high drama or the beginning of the end or anything other than the end of a long day in a too-hot apartment. The ending broke my heart yet seemed like the most natural and right course of action. Truly stunning.

Touching & Moving..

[virgo_87 · 7/10 · 23 August 2006]

I was given this film as a present on my 17th Birthday - a bit cynical to watch such a soppy love story, i decided to go it a go one evening..and didn't take my eyes off the screen until the end! This movie is fantastic! As a product of the late 80's myself - it is a film that makes me wish i still lived in that era!

Some of the best quotations! - that make you realise how important insignificant things are in a relationship (Watching the clouds go by on a lazy autumn morning, sitting up all night chatting etc) This film fills you with nostalgia; my fav part has to be the end..having gone through a rough break-up recently, i can empathise with the feeling of 'letting them go' and moving on.. "My feet shall want to walk to where you are sleeping - but i shall go on living" Watch this film - it'll make you think...

A lovely examination of grief and grieving.

[niteotaku · 10/10 · 30 November 2005]

A nice look at what it means to lose someone, and to be the lost as well. All too often (as in the treacly "Ghost") we are treated to a fantasy version of love and loss, where you get to have your cake (looking fab in that graveside outfit) and eat it too (dead person is wonderfully available as he guides you to your next, even better for you, love). Here, we see a woman who cannot let go, who is so paralyzed with grief she cannot live the life left to her. The man she lost untimely loves her so dearly he returns, not to take up where they left off (which is all she asks), but to guide her back into life, life he can never have again. What makes this movie admirable is the deft and sensitive rendering of the act of letting go, from both the point of view of the lost and the living.

Excellent ghost story steeped in common sense

[yossarian100 · 7/10 · 6 February 2004]

Excellent ghost/love story steeped in common sense with fine performances and believable characters. Juliet Stevenson plays a great Nina and her expressions of grief over losing her lover broke my heart, so when you watch this very entertaining film, I strongly suggest you keep an extra box of tissues by your side. I enjoyed this fine film quite a bit and I hope you do as well.

*Spoiler Follows*

I think the crux of this well told ghost story is the reason why Nina's lover returns. Nina cannot cope with his death, nor recover from her grief, so her lover returns with a few ghostly friends to help her do just that.....and they succeed.

Not "Ghost"

[playwrite2000 · 10/10 · 18 February 2006]

Anthony Minghella, the film director, is a sneaky guy. He sets up "Truly, Madly, Deeply" as a 3 hankie weeper as Juliet Stevenson mourns the death of her young husband, inadvertently asphyxiated by an endo tube after getting "a sore throat". She isolates herself from her friends, gets snappy with well meaning relatives, bawls at the first cords of an overheard cello (hubby played one and she accompanied him on the piano), and winds up on a therapist's couch. Ah, she had such a sweet, caring, satisfying relationship with this talented, intelligent, good looking man. How tragic that his unfulfilled life should be cut so callously short leaving this truly wonderful woman bereft and in despair. So, here we are, the audience, blowing our noses, wiping our eyes, feeling her loss and wondering ourselves how we would handle such a dreadful event. We think of the lovers, spouses, children in our lives. How close and intimate we are with them and how close all of us are to being summoned by the Grim Reaper without notice. Our sympathies are totally with this grieving young woman. Imagine our glee when out of nowhere the decedent appears, back from the beyond, in the flesh. Amazing. We vicariously feel the thrill the wife feels as she leaps into his arms, madly embracing the man she thought she'd lost forever. He's back. All of him... and there's Minghella's rub. It soon becomes evident that the husband has returned, not to haunt her or torment her, but only to be himself and with a totally unexpected agenda. He returns with his good habits (they play the word games they always used to pass the time with, they frolic, they joke and laugh and look deep into each other's eyes) but he also brings along his bad traits, and it's difficult accommodating oneself to his pushy, egotistic behavior, even if he is a ghost. Patrick Sweazy made a back-from-the-dead flick ("Ghost") where he hovered over Demi Moore and made her widowhood bearable. She always knew he was there. And what a wonderful guy he was. Sweetness and light. But TMD is no "Ghost". Menghella says, instead, wait a minute. The one we grieve for was a multi-dimensional person. How soon we forget the bad and glorify the good. After the "honeymoon" is over, the widow in his movie begins to feel a bit crowded. Her husband's always complaining about how cold the flat is, turning up the heat, sneezing from the drafts, shoving up against her in bed with his clammy body. He's learned Spanish but his accent is atrocious. He brings back some "friends" with him, a motley crew, all polite, but given to watching videos ("I Vitelloni", "Hannah and Her Sisters") at all hours of the day and night. The husband rearranges the furniture. Then, she meets a wonderful man in a restaurant. He works with the disabled and does magic tricks. He wants to date her. She's attracted to him. But what does she do with the living dead hubby at home? How can she entertain anyone? Must her life now accommodate his death? Her therapist is noncomittal. The denouement is absolutely spot on.

Unique take on the afterlife

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 25 August 2012]

Watching TRULY MADLY DEEPLY is something of a refreshing experience after sitting through the umpteenth supernatural thriller about vengeful spirits. This film offers different kinds of ghost altogether, where the afterlife is depicted as a kind of extremely dull limbo where the spirits of the dead can't fully interact with life as they knew it.

Of course, it's not really about ghosts at all, more of a meditation on grief and the ways in which people can overcome the death of a loved one. It's well made with a literate script and, if it's occasionally cheesy in its traditional romantic sub-plot, the calibre of the acting more than makes up for it.

You'll either love or hate Juliet Stevenson's performance, I think. She's pretty believable for the majority of the running time, but occasionally her acting goes so over the top that I found it embarrassing; thankfully, this doesn't happen too often. Inevitably, Alan Rickman gives the best performance in the movie, truly nuanced and engaging.

Watch out for that classic duet, a real highlight of the movie.

Do you want me to go?

[hitchcockthelegend · 9/10 · 1 January 2010]

Nina's {Juliet Stevenson} life is torn apart with the unexpected death of her lover, Jamie {Alan Rickman}. Stuck in a rat infested flat and under expensive therapy, Nina's grief is suddenly stopped in its tracks when Jamie comes back into her life as a ghost. Just as Nina meets Mark, a potential suitor.

For his first feature film, director and writer Anthony Minghella chose this touching, and often funny, tale of bereavement and learning to love again. Written in the main for Stevenson to showcase her talents, its strengths lie in the actors performances, the sensitive writing and its low key moody production ethic. Often it's been tagged the British answer to the Moore/Swayze movie Ghost. That's a lazy link and a touch misleading, as this is, if anything, the anti blockbuster movie, while the respective plots bear little resemblance. And besides which, this was made quite some time before Patrick and Demi were playing slinky round the pottery wheel.

Stevenson is marvellous, she gives Nina real depth, and in one grief stricken scene she delivers one of the most believable enactments of that emotion ever put on to celluloid. Rickman shines as he gets his teeth into something outside of the bad guy roles he was {still is} known for. Watch out for a poem (La Muerta) segment shared between the two, pure class. And as Mark, Michael Maloney is hugely effective in what is the tricky third wheel role. While the impressive acting on show is boosted by Barrington Pheloung's poignant, rhythmic musical score.

There are a number of interpretations put forward as to what Truly, Madly, Deeply is about. But really it has to be down to the individual viewer to make their own deductions. What isn't in doubt is that for anyone who been deeply in love or has lost a loved one to death, this film can't fail to ignite a number of emotions. Even as the comedy takes a hold, comedy which sits nicely within the structure of the tale I might add since some critics were baffled by the blend, one just knows we are being guided to a telling point where the story finishes for the protagonists, but goes on for us viewers long after the credits have rolled. To first time viewers I say, banish any hope of Hollywood histrionics and flourishing visuals and let Minghella and his wonderful cast take you by the hand. For the rewards are there for the discerning adult. 9/10

Bereavement/Moving On Tale Slowly Gets there

[pc95 · 6/10 · 14 March 2010]

An early 90's movie I'd just seen for the first time, Truly - Madly - Deeply is an interesting spin on ghost story and bereavement. At it's core it's about moving on, and it does a fairly good job establishing character motivations and emotions. Particularly the lead, Juliet Stevenson gives a good emotional performance needed to authenticate the themes of the movie. But the movie has a moping aimless feel at times punctuated (spoiler) by the ghosts themselves in the movie. The audience can figure out why they're there, but it sort of makes you wonder, is that all? Truly, Madly, Deeply runs a slow storyline that might try your patience. It's low-key but does a good job imparting the lead character's struggle with soft romantic dialog and humor. Not bad.

Isolation

[ALauff · 9/10 · 29 September 2006]

Anthony Minghella's beautifully conceptualized debut demonstrates the isolating effects of grief and the regenerative powers of romantic fulfillment as a means of transcending from within the drudgery of life's repressive routine.

In an early scene we see Nina, whose lover died an indeterminate period of time ago, sobbing inconsolably, trying to explain the bottomless grief she's feeling to her vaguely incompetent psychiatrist. Her face fills the frame, her features twisted, moisture heavy on her skin. The camera remains unwaveringly fixed on her throughout this harrowing outburst, never cutting away to offer relief—she's physically and emotionally isolated, her grief abstracted.

Such a scene is emblematic of Minghella's strategy in these first several reels. We are provided small hints of the tragedy from concerned acquaintances, but the lack of prosaic flashbacks, of the kind of visual inserts that conventionally accord shorthand empathy, similarly isolates us from her longing, leaving us wholly dependent upon Juliet Stevenson to convey the depths of Nina's despair. In order for this conceptual risk to pay off, an inordinate trust is required between director, audience and especially performer, and Stevenson is equal to the task. It's a commanding performance in which all character-building affectation is forsaken for a series of moments in which she is starkly present, dictating the pace, making us captive to her every move. In this manner, the film ceases to be an artifact of self-fulfillment on which we write the rules, but becomes a living thing that dictates the rules to us.

From this place of disconnection arrives a providential revelation, which I will not reveal, that changes the context of our identification with Nina and extends to her the promise of fulfillment. Between these two extreme states—longing and jubilation—can be found the heart of the story and a gloriously multi-toned narrative, a colorful gallery of nuanced eccentrics, and a perfect, heartbreaking ending.

Ghost For Adults?

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 19 July 2016]

A woman (Juliet Stevenson) dealing with inconsolable grief over the death of her partner (Alan Rickman) gets another chance when he returns to earth as a ghost.

The title comes from a word game played by the main characters, in which they challenge each other to by turns repeat and add to a series of adverbs describing the depths of their mutual affection. The working title for the film was 'Cello', a reference not only to the cello within the film, but also to the Italian word 'cielo' for heaven. I like the original title better, but understand why the new one might be seen as more marketable.

The film was made-for-TV, and produced in a 28-day shooting schedule for just $650,000. Of course, it rises well above that due to its strong pair of actors. When did Alan Rickman really become known as a great actor? Certainly not in "Die Hard" (though he is great)... could this have been a big turning point for him? Roger Ebert called it "a Ghost for grownups" (a common comparison because of the shared theme of lovers returning as ghosts and the concurrent releases of the movies) and considered the movie to reveal "some truths that are, the more you think about them, really pretty profound." I don't know if I would give the film nearly as much weight as Ebert does, but I do enjoy seeing dead people discuss cinema.

characters you just don't care about, a bad script, woeful acting.

[petersj-2 · 1/10 · 15 September 2005]

Everyone has their own "worse film ever made" and this one has been the top of my list since I saw it way back in about 1992. The first problem with the movie is that none of the characters are particularly affable nor interesting. Juliet Stevenson is both ingratiating and infuriating. You feel like screaming,"get over it, you annoying creature!". Its not that I am devoid of sensitivity but the condescending sentimentality is just so awful. The script is tedious and Stevenson is simply awful. Her annoying mannerisms and cliché interpretation is woeful.Stevenson is in my opinion dreadful in this movie. Alan Rickman does not walk through the film he dawdles.I cannot understand why some think it is better than "Ghost". Ghost was a charming little movie with a delightful performance from Whoopie Goldberg. It tugged at the heart strings but its sentimentality was never as mawkish as this dribble. Rickman is just awful, his performance is shallow and wooden.It is a bad performance by an actor with no screen presence.It is ponderous and boring. I know people liked it but for me it is close to the worse movie of all time. At least some of Ed Wood's movies were so bad they were funny. This is simply bad.

Wow!!

[john-mitchell77 · 12 February 2007]

Now, I like a weepy, I'm not ashamed to admit it. I actively seek out those films that are most likely to make me cry. However, more often than not, I end up disappointed because usually this type of film is either wildly melodramatic or painfully sentimental.

That's what I was expecting from this, to tell the truth. A woman overcome with grief at the death of her boyfriend? Give me a break!... I was in floods by the end, and promptly watched it again.

This film is testament to how well us Brits can do when we put our minds to it. It's charming, funny, warm and absolutely heart-breaking. All the performances are grouped under an umbrella label 'very good', with one notable exception: that of Juliet Stevenson as Nina. She is magnificent, and is, at times unbearable to watch. I'm still absolutely astonished at her performance. This is a woman who has had her heart and soul ripped out I love this film. I'm getting a lump in my throat just thinking about it. It's wonderful! (Blub! *Sniff*)

Comically maudlin Brit tragedy

[helpless_dancer · 7/10 · 14 February 2000]

Woman loses her husband and begins seeing him after awhile as though in the flesh. This caused her to go from being depressed to a state of exuberance. For awhile. He hangs around for a while, then begins bringing his ghostly friends to her home. They begin to get on her nerves so he tells her "if you don't want them here just tell them to leave." I didn't understand why he and the other ghosts came to her until the end of the movie when all was explained in the final scene.

Unbelievably great acting

[Veruka_Mtl · 10/10 · 3 February 2006]

This film is truly (madly and deeply) one of my top 10 of all time. It shows an honest portrayal of what life must be like for someone whose lover has died. Juliet Stevenson is amazing as a woman still dealing with the death of her husband (Alan Rickman - always great).

I'm not going to get into the plot because this would just be full of spoilers, and I would actually recommend not reading the back of the video/DVD box either, just to be surprised.

One should definitely have on hand a few hankies or a large, full box of tissues. As the other commenter said, this isn't a film where one cries, this is a film where one sobs. I have never seen an actress cry on screen in such a heart-wrenching, convincing way as Juliet Stevenson. And lest you think this is just a weepy, the movie is also full of fun, humorous scenes.

Good

[chelseajmbelehar · 6/10 · 4 December 2021]

It was good but not quite as good as I think it could have been. Which given the talented actors and the leading actress, is saying a lot but its true. It just needed a little something else. What though I have no idea. It had goofy, ridiculous, honest love in it but there was just that little smidgen in the corner that was missing.

Still a very good watch and really connects to anyone who has suffered a loss.

Truly Madly Deeply A Wonderful Movie!!!

[SataiDelen · 10/10 · 8 July 2005]

I didn't catch this movie until it came out on cable. I don't know what I was expecting but I wasn't expecting what I saw. I cried and cried and laughed and cried from beginning to end! Alan Rickman is just the most wonderful actor. He is so talented at EVERYTHING he does! When he kissed Juliet Stevenson my heart pounded and my breath caught in my throat. It was such a beautiful, tender, loving, and yet still passionate kiss and so therefore believable of two people who loved each other so much. What I got out of this movie is the need to be able to grieve, but the necessity of being able to move on with your life while still accepting that someone you love is dead but not gone and knowing that you will always love the person you leave behind while learning that it's OK to live your life and find new love. This movie has become one of my all-time favorite movies. If you have not seen it yet, you MUST see it!

The British "Ghost"?

[=G= · 7/10 · 27 October 2003]

Juliet Stevenson proves her mettle in "Truly, Madly, Deeply" with a superb performance as a woman struck with grief who overcomes same in spite of her friends and with a little help from "the other side". A definite chick flick according to the IMDB.com stats, this plaintive but hopeful drama with a dash of comedy about personal reconciliation is a worthy effort for those who can get their head around the whole "ghost" thing. For more mature audiences and, of course, chicks. (B+)

NOTE: Write/director Anthony Minghella introduces himself and his film at the beginning of the DVD which I viewed; a smart move and a nice touch which will engender good will much more than huge imposing in-your-face letters like "DIRECTED BY STEVEN SPIELBERG".

Truly, madly, fantastic

[dwround · 10/10 · 13 November 2007]

I'm not sure where to start in a review of the movie, Truly, Madly, Deeply.

Between a magnificent score, the impeccable performances of the two leads and the unspoilt raw emotion, this movie will appeal to anyone. Well, in my mind, it should appeal to anyone.

Juliette Stevenson's performance is unbelievable good. I doubt many could have captured the pain she expressed in the now famous piano/cello scene. Grief at its finest if grief can ever been seen this way.

As for Allan Rickman, the role seems perfect for this actor of limitless talent. The chemistry between he and Stevenson is obvious to most and touching to those who are a little more in tune with such a feeling.

In between many highs and lows of gut wrenching emotion, this movie has lots of light and cheerful moments that truly add some balance to this real life drama.

Love and loss are, in some, the most raw and powerful of emotions. This movie stretches love and loss to its limits. And just when you think you've seen and felt enough, a little more is added in for good measure. After all, love and loss hurt - in differing ways.

Some will relate to this movie. Many will be touched by its expression of devotion and the human challenge of moving on. But, for me, the important message from the movie is that we can all move on and live...its just harder for some.

See this; its magnificent. A definite 10/10...

It could have been a 10. . .

[anniepack · 7/10 · 8 July 2002]

The leading lady is such a klutz. It may be realistic (a movie about a dead boyfriend coming back in the cold flesh realistic?) but watching her wipe her nose on the back of her hand every time she cried (which was a lot) left me, along with the boyfriend,cold.

Alan Rickman is aces with me, and beautiful in this part. Michael Maloney, who hardly ever plays a leading man and hardly ever sympathetic, shines here as well.

Everybody's good, including the rats, except for Goon Girl. Far as I can tell, she got cast 'cause her boyfriend Minghella used his influence.

See the movie, but beware: the lady is very irksome.

The Thinking Person's "Ghost"

[cinemaniac2002 · 10/10 · 6 March 2005]

Writer-director Anthony Minghella is best known for rather large-budget literary film adaptations such as "The English Patient," (which garnered the Best Director Oscar) and "The Talented Mr. Ripley." That is all the more reason to check out his first effort behind the camera. Originally produced for BBC television, "Truly Madly Deeply" genuinely demonstrates Minghella's meticulous touch with character relationships.

Juliet Stevenson is Nina, a translator who hasn't quite gotten over the untimely death of her cellist husband Jamie, played by Alan Rickman (who have an exquisitely natural rapport). Nina hears his voice at night -- but then he begins to appear during the day, as well. Soon, Jamie is around all the time, and, while comforting for Nina, her euphoria soon wears off, once she realizes that he is, in fact, truly gone.

Minghella distinguishes this "otherworldly" situation intellectually. While films such as "Ghost" appeal to the masses with its sappy sentimentalism, this film addresses the reality of the situation. From Nina's withdrawal after one of the most gut-wrenching grieving scenes ever at her therapist's office, to Jamie's "reappearance" and the prospect of living with a ghost and the socio-economic relevance of Latin American immigrants in London – the film is far more realistic than any of its kind. Juliet Stevenson's intelligent, vulnerable performance is quite powerful and Alan Rickman's divine rendering of the cello-playing ghost, Jamie are simply unparalleled. Anyone who has lost a love to an untimely death will surely relate to this film.

The addition of Jamie's various new ghost pals is a delightful comic relief and the new love interest character is a useful metaphor that guides her on the journey of letting go of the past and onto the future, which, when you think about it, is actually very profound. It is Minghella's skillful rendering of this material with all of its nuances, that, while fanciful, does not seem contrived, and differentiates it as a one of a kind film of its type.

Inspiring in a Twilight Zoneish way

[safenoe · 7/10 · 28 December 2023]

The Trouble with Templeton, a Twilight Zone episode from 1960, seems to have inspired this inspiring British movie Truly Madly Deeply released 30 years later in 1990. The Trouble with Templeton deals with lost loves and how to deal with alienation and motivation about lives lost, and so does Truly Madly Deeply. Alan "Die Hard" Rickman stars in Truly Madly Deeply as a ghost who revisits his understandably bereaved wife Nina (Juliet "Bend it like Beckham" Stevenson). It makes you think about love's lost and the emotional difficulty of moving on after such tragic circumstances. It ain't easy, but the movie makes you think.

Not A Truly Good Film

[Theo Robertson · 4/10 · 18 September 2004]

Oh dear . I'm probably going to upset a lot of middle class middle aged woman by confessing I didn't like this movie at all for several reasons

1 ) I have a very low tolerance level on middle class metropolitan characters in movies . I am by no means a Maoist but I find it difficult to relate to middle class women who have friends with children who can play a cello

2 ) There's a limit on how many times I can watch a character weeping in one movie . If I hadn't disliked her so much I would have worried about Nina losing so much salt from her body due to the amount of tears she cried

3 ) It was bad enough when the movie was drowning in sentiment ( The amount of tears from Nina would have drowned the movie anyway ) but then the movie has a plot twist featuring Alan Rickman's character which made TRULY MADLY DEEPLY silly more than anything else

4 ) This doesn't feel like a cinematic movie . It feels more like a play produced for television which isn't surprising since director Anthony Minghella started out in the theatre then moved onto script editing jobs in television

There are one or two good points . Despite playing annoying characters the cast do a fairly good job , and there are some touching moments like the scene where where we think Nina and Sandy are alone :

" Nina you're beautiful "

" Who's beautiful ? "

Only to find out they're surrounded by friends of Nina come to do up the house , though unfortunately as I said the film's attempts to touch the audience this way quickly becomes overkill . This movie also deserves some credit of only costing 700,000 dollars a sum it made into a profit several times over to become the most successful British production that year , so thanks for keeping the British film industry going

But at the end of the day TRULY MADLY DEEPLY is a mawkish chick flick and will probably only be remembered as Anthony Minghella's debut as director