One of the reasons for watching this film, aside from the many positive reviews was to see Colin Firth act. He does not disappoint although his talents are wasted in this poor movie. Firth is a Professor of English coming to terms with the death of his partner of 18 years against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Most of the action takes place on a single day, when Firth makes a plan to end his suffering. So during this day he has a host of sequences where he meets a lot of characters who add nothing substantial to the film and a dinner date with his long time friend Julianne Moore with a horrible English accent. Tom Ford the director is apparently a famous person but I had never heard of him until I saw the film. This is a horribly written and directed film, I had trouble keeping my eyes open and watched it one hand of the fast forward button. Nothing about this boring and pretentious film made sense. A single star only because I have to rate this film. 2.12.11